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About The Nebraska independent. (Lincoln, Nebraska) 1896-1902 | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1900)
n Sii . . : V fry - j Wore lyome Print : than Jlny Other jt Peoples Party Paper in the U.S. 31 Club of rive $ Subscribers from 5 now Until Jan. lst,l90t, $2.50 VOL. XI. LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, MARCH 8, 1900. NO. 43. i A RATION OF HIRELINGS That Is What the United States is Fast be coming. All Industries am Passing; Into the Control of Trusts. A few of the writers of New York are waking up at last to the fate that con fronts us. It is true that they are a year or two1 behind the Independent, which long ago pointed out that when all the industries were in the hands of the trusts that the people of this nation would become a nation of hirelings. There will be few who will still have the initiative in enterprises, but they will be simply work for wages and those wages will be fixed by the arbitrary decision of men over whom they have no control. "Wage worker" will then apply, to us all. That means the overthrow of our form of civilization. If the republican party remains in power and pursues its pres ent policies, it will not be long . until that model prayer of the Nazarine will no longer be addressed to the Deity, but to the trust magnate, and we will hum bly bow before him and say "give us our daily bread." There will be no way to get bread except from the magnate's hand. There will be no 1 business that a man can enter. However bright the boy may: be, the only way for him to earn his daily bread will be to work for a trust and humbly receive whatever the mag nate is pleased to give him. Mr. James Creel man has an article in a late issue of the New York Journal in which he tells of their rapid increase. The Journal sent a man to New Jersey and copied the figures used from the of ficial record of that state. But there have been many more organized in other states. The official statement from Del- amount. Mr. Creelman says: "There is something terrifying in the power which the trust system has sud denly developed under the protection of the . McKinley-Hanna administration. It seems almost incredible, yet the offi cial figures show that the trusts incor porated in the state of New Jersey in one year have an aggregate capital of 12,446,500,000. , Try to "grasp that with your mind Two thousand four hundred and forty six millions the record of one state for one year. And remember that this does not . take any account of incorporated companies, whose capital stock is less than $3,000,000. This state of New Jersey, which has in in one year licensed trusts to the extent of nearly two and a half billions of dol lars, is the home of Mr. Griggs, the at torney general of the United states. He i- : i t- - j j was cnosen oecause iio was a irienu ana defender of the trust system, Is it any matter for wonder that Mr. Griggs refuses to enforce the anti-trust law, which the supreme court only two years ago declared to be constitutional and necessary for the interests of the nation? Two billions and a half in one state in one year! This is the "Robbers' Roost" denounced by Mr. Bryan. , Until the Journal sent to Trenton and had the figures copied from the state records there was no suspicion in the public mind that the trust system had grown in one place to such astound ing proportions. This swift concentra- lion oi ine powers oi monopoly repre sents a strangling process that is crush ing thousands of small but independent business men and manufacturers out of trade. It is converting the American people into a nation of agents and clerks, with no hope of independence left. Attorney General Griggs, who laughs at the anti-trust law, boasted publicly only a few days ago that his state had made it easy for the trusts to exist. And an audience of trust owners applauded him. If there is a man in the United States who has any doubt that the trust system is closing all channels of opportunity to the young men of the country, I address myself to that man. Let him read the official records of New Jersey and earn estly try to understand what they mean. There is no serious war against rich men in America. No man worth listen ing to objects to the trusts because the organizers of trusts are making large profits. No one proposes a war against legitimate corporations. But the law denounces monopoly in trade or indus try as a crime, and that law is a mock ery because the trusts have become more powerfnl than the government. Today this hitherto unheard of and undreamed of commercial despotism is intrenched behind a government of its own making, livery agency of the fed eral administration, from the president and attorney general down to the hum blest law officer, is strained to encourage and strengthen the trusts. Senator Hanna, chairman of the republican na tional committee and spokesman of Pres ident McKinley, has declared again and again that "trusts should . be let alone." And the enmillioned system pours money into Mr. Hanna's campaign fund to keep President McKinley and Attorney Gen eral Uriggs in office. vnat chance nas a young .man in America to become independent? What is to become of the ydung men? The trusts are absolutely destroying all op portunity for competition. They say to the young man of brains and ambition "iou snail not engage in business save , as employee." When Mr. Rockefeller and Mr. Havemeyer and Mr. Carnegie began life there were no trusts to strangle - meir am Diiions ana limit rneir nnnnrni nines.. - ... Twenty years ago the field was free to all. A man who had brains, application and courage could rise in any branch of commerce or industry and become inde penaent. j.nat was true twenty years -. ago. is it true now? The trust organ jxers, Having had full opportunities , to compete in their own day, are now shut ing the door upon all others. What will the situation be ten years from now, or even ten years from now? Can any man who has children contem plate the future without dread? If the trusts organized in New Jersey last year have a capital of two and a half billions of dollars, what will their power be when the boy of today is a man? The most important point to under stand is that this overwhelming concen tration is a new thing: that this swift, noiseless change has been made chiefly since President McKinley's election, and that it is doubling and tripling every few months. The great railroad systems are being bought up and consolidated, and an attempt is being made to make a single system from the Atlantic to ' the Pacific, which will destroy all hope of competition. w The whole anthracite coal supply of the United States is controlled arbitrar ily by four railroads, dominated by four men, who in turn is dominated by one man. Thus the amount of coal ' and the amount to be mined each year are fixed, and the public must submit. Competi tion is out of the question. - The factories of all the large industries are being rapidly bought up or forced out of business. And as these gigantic, all corrupting systems gain in power they absolutely kill competition. No man can hope to engage in the business they, control. ' All this is new to Amer ica. It is new to the whole world. It is a form of . tyranny more terrible than monarchy. - It can crush and de stroy whom it chooses. It can create famines. - It can make laws and break them at will. This is new, this un crowned, impersonal tyrant. : . Look . at the dread array - of.. power which New Jersey has clothed with le gal incorporation in the year 1899. It is staggering. In the entire forty -nine years preceding 1845 New Jersey incor porated 873 companies, whose capital amounted to or exceeded $1,000,000. These were nearly all strictly legitimate business enterprises. New Jersey chose to be a robbers' roost. Men like Attorney-General Griggs applauded the changes which en couraged monopoly to make its head quarters in the state. From 1895 on the incorporation of a trust was 'swift, until it culminated in the extraordinary fig ures of last year. Taking the corporations whose capital exceeds the three million mark, which excludes all . the small enterprises of a purely local character, and the following results appear in .New Jersey: lear Iso. trusts Total Capital At. Capital - - 1,48B,170 ' 2,868,000 3,669,287 7,762,778 21,090,517 l-95 ...48 - $,850,000 JL ' 119,380,000 813,557,001) ewt,so,ooo 2,446,500,000 SO 1897 18$.. 90 1899 116 For 1898 and 1899 only companies having an excess of $3,000,000 of capital have been counted. Had the $1,000,000 concerns been included the increase would have been at least three times greater. Thus far in 1900 but seven companies of particular note have been formed that is, companies with $3,000,000 or more of capital, the aggregate of whose capitalization is $79,000,000, and the av erage $11,285,714. It will be seen by tne figures which I give here tnat since tne beginning oi 1898, a little more than two years ago, the trusts incorporated in New Jersey alone have on aggregate capital of $3,131,100,000. Think of it! More than three billions in a little more than two years! Can a remedy be applied until the Government is in the hands of men who really want to make a remedy effective? After this there follows a list of every trust formed in 1898, 1899 and 1900, the date of their organization and amount of capital. The list would fill more that a column 4t this paper. All these have grownup under the administration ,of President McKinley aided by hid' attor ney general who is trust defender from that robbers roost, the state ol IN ew Jersey. Mr. Creelman recapitulates the trusts for the last three years as fol lows: " Year No. trusts Capital t 1898 26 $605,600,000 1890 116 . 2,446,500,000 1900. 7 79,000,000 Total trust period to date $3,131,100,000 The British government has increased the income tax to a shilling on the pound. McKinley is so .very fond of imitating the .British government, suppose be sends a message to congress recommend ing that this government follow the British example. But he won't. He only, believes in copying the evils of mon archy standing armies, great navies and things of that sort. That Secret Alliance : 'Last December . the (British) govern ment made vigorous overtures to two great powers Germany and the United States for an alliance." Lord Rose- berry, Feb. 15. 1900. 'The union the alliance, if you please between these two . great nations (American and British) is indeed a guar antee of the peace of the world." Joseph Chamberlain, Nov. 30, 1899. , "When I accepted my post as consu (at Pretoria) I knew nothing of the secret alliance between America and Great Britain." Charles E. Macrum, Feb. 14, 1900. . "He (Mr. Macrum is talking- through his hat." Senator Piatt of Connecticut (champion of administration), Feb. 15. 1900. , : ' Another Injunction ; - Members of the state board of trans portation sav that the action of Jud?e Munger of the federal court in issuing an order restraining the board from re ducing the existing freight rates on live stock practically renders them powerless to proceed to hx or regulate rates. Sec retary of State Porter announced that he had long expected the railroads to apply to the federal courts for an injunc tion and that he was not surprised that such an order had been issued. THE PUERTO RICO OUTRAGE . - 'Wit ' The McKinley Congress Overrides the Con stitution and Taxes Puerto Bico , Without Representation. " The house passed the bill putting a tariff on the goods shipped from Puerto Rico into this country, and . from this country into that island. This is exactly what the British parliament did when this country revolted and said no taxa tion without representation. - The very legislation that Washington fought against, and to prevent the execution of which our revolutionary sires shed their blood on a hundred battle fields, has been re-enacted by a republican house. And these men call themselves followers of Washington and Lincoln! The New York Journal comments upon thd matter as follows: " Representative Grosvenor of Ohio, the chief spokesman of the new republi can imperialism, has framed the plat form on which William McKinley must stand, unless he can reassert the leader ship to which the majority of the repub licans in congress are depriving him. In his. speech on the Puerto Rico tariff bill on Thursday Mr. Grosvenor said: "But we have got the Philippines on our hands, and I will tell you what we shall tell the people of this conntry, my friends, if you will listen to me now. We will say we have acquired title to the Philippines and Puerto Rico. We did not go after them, but they came to us and we could not help ourselves. . "A gentleman went out into the Orient with a little more power than he had authority, and the first thing we knew he had captured the Lord only knows how many islands out - there we have never yet found out ourselves. But he took them and we are there, and our flag is there, and we were aided in getting a perfect title to them by the democratic senators in congress without any protest from anybody. We have got them, and the duty js upon us, and we are going to take care of them. We are going to make all the money out of the transac tion we can by enlarging our trade with the Oriental countries, and we are going to embalm the declaration of indepen dence upon the statute books of the Philippines just as soon as we think the time has come to do it, and we are not Soing to do it one minute before, ; if all tie democrats on God's earth go howl incr that we have cot to do it now." fAi- plause and laughter on the, republican side.) There it is. There is the inspiring vis ion for which ,the republican party, as represented by Grosvenor, invites the nation to exchange its old ideals of free dom, justice and magnanimity. We have Puerto Rico and the Phillipines on our hands' and "we are going to make all the money out of the transaction we can." x We are going to "embalm the declaration of independence upon the statute books just as soon as we think the time has come to do it," and "we are not going to do it one minute before." And another republican speaker, Mr. ' Moody of Massachusetts, put the finish ing touch to the platform by declaring that the majority proposed to abide by the spirit of ;the constitution rather than its letter, and deriding those who are guided only by a ''paper constitution." When such issues are raised there is no need to ask where the democratic party stands. The democracy has al ways been the party of the constitution and the declaration of independence. It abhors the idea of holding subject peoples to "make money out of the transaction. ' it has been the great ex pansion party of our history, but under its guidance our expansion has carried American justice, liberty and prosperity along with our flag. When the democratic party carried our frontiers from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains and then to the Pacific it sent no Roman proconsuls to grind down the people of the provinces for the profit of men of influence at home. It was the American republic that expand ed, not an American empire. When we went, less than two years ago, to "liberate the people of Puerto Rico, they were a part of a nation a backward nation, perhaps, but still a na tion with a history, a political life and a place in the world of its own. If Spain governed Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico help- ea 10 govern opain. iier people eiectea twelve representatives and four senators to the Spanish cortez. These members were not mere delegates without power. like those we allow to speak for Arizona and .New Mexico they were a part of the legislative branch of the Spanish government in full standing. Their votes counted for just as much as those of the senators and representatives from Ma drid. Puerto Rico also had an insular legis lature oi ner own, eiectea by her own people. There were duties of ten per cent on trade between .Puerto Kico and Spain, and these were to have been abol ished over a year ago. Now we have liberated the Puerto Ri cans by converting them from citizens of a monarchy into subjects of a repub lie. The republican party has deprived them of all . the self government they had under Spain. It will not even allow them to have a delegate in one house of congress without a vote, to explain what they would like to have, although the past weeK s debate has shown that the presence of such a delegate, possessing some knowledge of the subjects under discussion, is as necessary to congress as to the Puerto lucans. Having thus deprived them of all voice in their own government, we next proceed to tax the Puerto Ricans with out their , consent. We say that their starving people shall pay $400,000 a year in duties on the rice that is their princi pal article of food. Last year we got up subscriptions to feed the victims of the hurricane; 'now , we are commanding these same victims to give up more in taxes than they received. : When the republican party began its expansion journey it did not know the route along which its leaders were going to take it. In the campaign of 1898 the republicans of Iowa said in their plat form: "It is due to the x cause of humanity and civilization, for which the war with Spain was fought, that no people who haye in consequence been freed from op pression shall, with the consent or through the indifference of the United States, be be returned to such oppression or permitted to lapse into barbarism." Nothing there about making all the money we can but of the transaction; Nothing there about the Puerto Ricans haying no rights we tare bound to te spect. v...' r' , -..v,'. '' : The republicans ' of Massachusetts shared the sentiments of those of Iowa. They said;; . . V. - '. j ',-v.;--" . "The war with Spain, undertaken by the. United States from the highest mo tives, has been justified in the intelli gence and compassion of mankind. Our brilliant victories have brought us sol emn obligations and grave responsibili ties, for we cannot, in the interests of honor, humanity or civilization, return to'Spain the peoples whom we have freed from her tyranny." -" - , Freed from her tyranny by . depriving them of such political rights as she al lowed them and delivering them bound and gagged to the tax gatherer? - The republicans of Michigan express ed the opinion that Providence had "made this nation the instrument for the uplifting of an pppressed people" at 15 per cent Diagley rates? The republicans of. Minnesota declared that the war with Spain had been prose cuted "in the interest1" of humanity and for no selfish ends whatever." - ' The republicans of New York an nounced that "wherever our flag has gone, there the liberty, the humanity and the civilization which that flag em bodies and represents must remain and abide forever."., Fine words, are they not? President McKinley evidently believed in them two months ago, when he said , in his message; ; "Our plain duty is to abolish all cus toms tariffs between the United States and Puerto Rico, and give her products free access to our markets." Secretary Root believed in them when he asserted that "the highest considera tions of justice and good faith" required us to grant free,, trade to Puerto Rico. Governor General Davis believed them when he said: "Free trade with the home fovernment I regard as a necessity for uertoRico." .' Chairmafn Payne, of the house ways ways and means committee, believed them when he introduced a bill abolish ing the duties on goods passing between Puerto Rico and the mainland of , the United States. ; i , x But now the majority of tthe - republic cans in congress have 'thrown all senti ment overboard.- They have - no more use for " benevolent assimilation" they are lined up - for piratical r imperialism. They see visions of fat proconsulships ahead. Mr. Grosvenor would make a noble Verres. Mr: Moody ought to do well in the part of Urassus. If they have, their' way, the issue for the democrats is made.' There will be no more dissensions in the democratic camp over details. The issue will - in volve all that is precious in the inherit ance handed down to us by our fathers. It will involve our own liberties and the honor of our national name. An expanding republic or a piratical empire? i , . , That is the ; question the republican party is preparing to submit to the American people. The democracy is ready for it. " " State Warrants and Silver Under free coinage of silver and gold at the present ; ratio, the , price of an ounce of silver could not fall below $1.29. It might go above that figure, in which event little or no silver would . be pre sented at the mints for coinage as was the case prior to 1873. , A good illustration.' of this fact is shown by the price of .state general fund warrants. As long as the state stands ready to pay par for, these warrants as an investment for the permanent educa tional funds, iust so long they will never go below par. But they may go to a premium if outside competition is keen enough. t . DeFRANCE. "Private Smith at the Philippines," is a hand book of fanti-imperialist argu ment which will bo read and prized by people who care to keep posted. It is written in the colloquial style and simply very fairly epitomizes studies and dis cussions alleged to have been had among some soldiers returning from the Philippines. The imperialist debater, Capt. Bevins, is the target for Private Smith and his friends. Private . Smith adopts a 'style ; which reminds one of "Coin" Harvey. The book is especially valuable for its Wide range of quota tions from the great leaders of American thought and action for the past century, and will be a good one for the ordinary political speaker to carry in his grip next summer and fall. A paragraph which appeared in sev eral papers last week contained this ludicrous statement: "Governor Poynter's administration has become world-wide." Adminstration means "government of public affairs;" and it can hardly be pos sible that the writer of that paragraph meant us to believe that Governor Poyn ter is governing public affairs over the wide world The ' fame of Governor Poynter's government of public affairs in Nebraska has, indeed, become world wide; but carelessly written statements like the one referred to, being ludicrous in the extreme, can in no manner aid the people of - Nebraska in recognizing the sterling worth of Governor Poynter. Adjutant General P. H. Barry will start for Washington, D. C, today, where he goes to settl? the accounts be tween the State of ; Nebraska and the National government in connection with the muster of the Nebraska National guard with the national service A TRUE REFORMER Bryan Stands Up Before the Multi-Millionaires and Tells Them the Truth to Their Faces. ' No true reformer since the - world began has ever flipehed .when brought face to face with the oppressors. Luther stood up. before all the monarchs anck all the powers of Europe and said: "God helping me I cannot do otherwise." The reformer of Gallilee told the 'great and powerful to : their faces that they were hypocrites and whited sepulctiers. Crom well told the f sychophants that ' formed the British parliament that they were a factious crew - and .the enemies of all good government. ' . " Mr. Bryan was in. Tampa, Florida, the other day, and it was thought to abash him by bringing him before' a host of trust magnates and multi-millionaires who make that place their winter resort. He stood up and talked to them in the same way, or if there was any; difference, in somewhat stronger language than he is accustomed to use when addressing a crowd of farmers in the sand hills of Nebraska, v, ;- .i1":"' ' He introduced his address by a refer ence to he' 'usual habitues of the winter resorts," and said that he wished to give' offense to no one, always feeling more at home when ad dressing the general public than when talking to any particular class. He spoke of the Commandment, ' "Thou Shalt Not Steal,'? and remarked that under the administration of trusts and monopolies the Commandant had been paraphrased to VThou Shalt Not Steal in a Small Way-" -.. '' v? : He charged the supreme court of the United States with tpe responsibility for the phrase, "larceny by law;" he knew that he was addressing the class of peo ple who did not appreciated the force of the phrase. Still, he could ' not refrain from saying that, among - the guests of winter - resorts, the idea was uppermost that the. common people were more de pendent upon the rich . class than vice versa. He argued t fervently for the recognition of the common people. "I have never been taught ; that there are two heavens," he said, "and I cannot persuade myfeelf to believe that when the last roll is ' called these guests of the Tampa Bay will answer a different roll from the thousands who labor and toil." Mr. cryan was caustic in aroacKing that class of .wealthy men who rob mil lions from the poor and seek to repay them by occasional gifts to education and charity. He closed with a hope that all the wealthy" classes, of the United States, including those representatives of it who were before him, would shortly arrive at the proper conception - of the humanity of man to man. ; Considering the audience to whom it was addressed, Mr. Jaryan s speecn caused something of a sensation. That crowd of plutocrats who are ac customed to have every biped that ap proaches them, cringe and bow and fawn upon them, met a MAJM at last, and we want a MAN in the White House once more What a glorious day that will be if it ever comes! ' TO THE BEWILDERED Populism is a Defender of the Constitu-. tion and Kightsof Man it Marches on to Victory, . . Probably the question ! has arisen in the minds of many members of the pop ulist party; how far have we advanced toward the enactment into law of the principles of the party since our organi zation? ' . v. t.v , Roughly speaking, we might say that the purpose of the constitution of the United States was to embody into a compact form of words a standard for the nation to live up to and that stand ard was the welfare and interest of the many or of all as against those of the few. Strange to say, the tendency of all the laws enacted since the constitution was adopted, seem to have been made in the interests of the money and for the se curing of privileges for certain classes as against the masses.. The laws relating to property and money have encouraged the concentration of enormous amounts of wealth in the hands of a few individ uals, in amount such as never has been known in the history of mankind." The laws as they are, stand for the interest of the few against the many. . - We do not say that Mr. Carnegie is a worse man - than " all others because he has accumulated many millions. Me is only the example of one man who has taken advantage of the laws as they ex ist and who has probably helped to make more laws to preserve the existing con dition of things . by the use of money which he has accumulated. This con dition of things throws an enormous power into the hands of a few individu als. , A nation can no longer call itself free and independent when all the laws and machinery of daily : living can be manipulated by a few individuals for their own interest as against the inter est of the many. We saw the tendency of social condit ions and organized what we called the peoples party in order to arrest this ten dency and to adopt a new policy of gov ernment which should better enforce the spirit of the constitution. The inate sense and feeling of the people against the existing condition was made stronger and clearer by the public agitation carried on by the pop ulist party and manifested itself four years from the date of -the Omaha con vention by six million votes for the man who had been chosen to represent the interest : of the many against the few. It is again four years since that vote and the question has arisen: "Are we any nearer the reformation than : when the populist party was organized." ' The populist party has ' many mem bers of many kinds and to a noisy few among them the question would mean: "Am I any nearer getting an office or getting something out' of the erganiza tion? If we can keep ourselves to our selves and help no one,-nor allow any one to helpflus to attain our object, we are more likely to attain our object we are more likely ; to get what places and glory there is to be got out of the organization for Ourselves." But to the great mass of the party the question means : "Our r- principles are everything.- To maintain the constitu tion is everything. No matter what be comes of us, we will accept any help and give any help to others to bring about the realization of our hopes and enact and enforce the spirit of the con stitution." .- ' ; - At bottom this is a struggle to death for the maintainance of our constitu tion,, for which in the past men have fought and died, we are willing to give up all for that. We hope we know that we are stronger and nearer our goal than we were four years ago when we gave our six million votes.' :,,' BRIGHT EYES. Texas Populists. They Make a Statement to . The Members of the Party Concerning: the Meeting: - of the Populist National Committee. In consequence of certain signed pub lications emenating from this city during and since the ; meeting of the people's party national committee, the Texas del egation makes the following statement: When the national committee was called to order by Chairman Butler he stated that he and the secretary, as was their duty, had prepared a preliminary list of members and their proxies, but as some had died and several contests have been filed from different states he deemed it his duty to appoint a committee of three on credentials and contests to assist in revising the list and passing on said contests; that the national commit tee could legally transact no business until after this list had been prepared and adopted; that after the secretary had read the preliminary list the - com; mittee would stand adjourned until 3 p. m., and the secretary and this contest committee would go immediately to: the rooms of the department of insurance in the capitol building, where the commit tee . meetings were being hed, and that those who had proxias, contests or com plaints would appear before that com mittee so that all these matters could be investigated and fairly adjudicated. As soon as the preliminary roll had been read and the committee adjourned, a crowd mostly unknown to the commit tee as populists, previously organized for that specific purpose and led by Jo. A. Parker . of Kentucky, who had pre viously distributed proxies indiscrimi nately to persons who had to sign an agreement to act with the bolters before proxies were given to tbem, proceeded to effect their contemplated bolt by electing D., Clem Deaver chairman and Ali Reed secretary, and adjourned their meeting to the Grand hotel, where- the bolt was perfected by calling a national nominating convention to convene at Cincinnati, O., May 9, 1900. Chairman Butler, the secretary and contest committee met as directed, sent for many of the bolters, and after hear ing all the evidence perfected the roll by recommending the seating of every mem ber elected at St. Louis in 1896, or who had since been elected by a regular state convention, except those who par-. ticipated in the Cincinnati convention of 1898, which nbminated Barker for president and Donnely for vice president, and those who are now. on the national committee of that party or openly sup ported that ticket. Among those seated were Jo. A. Parker, who appeared before the contest committee and stated em phatically that he had bolted the Cin cinnati convention and was not support ing its nominees; D. Clem Deaver and all the others, whose credentials were regular. Parker, Deaver ; and others who had been seated afterwards met the regular committee, participated in its deliberations for a time and then delib erately bolted again. The present roll of the members of the national committee, as reported and adopted, includes -representation from every state and territory in the union' and the District of Columbia, and the attendance was the largest that has assembled at any meeting of the com mittee since 1896. This session of . the committee was characterized by the utmost harmony and j brotherly feeling throughout.- Every agreement made at Omaha in 1898 was adhered to strictly. Then the date of holding the national nominating convention was left entirely to "the Texas,, delegation who selected May 9, 1900. The committee selected Sioux Falls, S. D., as the place for hold ing the convention, and the basis of rep resentation adopted at Omaha in 1898 was adopted without debate and will be adhered to. So far as we are advised only one member of the national com mittee participated in this bolt. ' The preconcerted plan for a bolt- and the attempted disruption of our party inaugurated at Omaha, June 18, 1898, and which our state convention of that year repudiated by acclamation, has culminated here in the bolt of the same element before our national committee was organized or its policy declared. We believe it our duty to lay these facts before . the populists of Texas and the nation and urge them to remain steadfast to ; the regular organization, which is using every effort to maintain all our principles as the results of. this meeting clearly demonstrate. ; Harry Tracy. . ' , . ' S. C. Granberry, - , O. F. DOMBLAZER. -J.S.Bradley. J, H. Davis. Club of five subscribers from now uutil January 1, 1901, for 12.50. Every body rustle. . ' LEARN TO TALK ENGLISH A Publisher Makes a Protest Against an, Education that Neglects the Teach - ing: of English. One by one , the great editors, the publishers and educators come trailing along in the rear of the Independent, some of " them four and five years be- hind , and some of them only a few months, but all of them far in the rear. For four or five years this paper has been insisting that pupils in the public schools and colleges should be taught English. Years are spent in teaching Latin, Greek, German, French, Sanskrit and every other language and dialect and the native tongue is neglected. It is very seldom that an article comes into an editorial room that does Vot require very numerous alterations and correc tions, even from the professional classes1. These "educated" classes, while they may know where to put capital letters and how to spell, scarcely ever know how to construct a sentence so that the idea they want to express is clear cut and easily understood. They nearly al ways put the important word in the wrong part of thet sentence. That makes the idea obscure and dim. Some sentences have to be read oyer three or four times before what the writer "ia driving at" can be found. ? The graduates of our common schools seem to , never have been taught any thing about capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing and - more than half of them do not know how to spell. They know all about algebra, geometry, trigo nometry and a hundred other things that will never be of the slightest use to them, but they know very t little about the language they try to speak. That defect in their education makes . them the prey of every oarper who may at tack them. They are unable to detect a sophism, they know nothing about logic except as they have been forced to apply it in the study of mathematics, and they seem never to have any idea of applying it to anything else. They can't reason nf. all. Tf t.ViAV nrtulri va wnnld nnt Viav so many mullet heads "m Nebraska. Wev would not have men going around talk ing about having high prices and, dear money both at the same time, or shout ing at the top of their voices: ''The for eigner pays the tax." Walter H. Page, a member of the pub lishing firm of Doubleday, Page & Co. of New Icork, formerly editor of the Atlan tic Monthly, addressed visiting superin tendents at Central Music hall, Chicago, last week on "The Right Use of Speech in a Democracy." Members of the board of education occupied boxes, and 1,000 Chicago school teachers, present by special invitation, failed the first gal lery. Mr. Page said: '"There is too lit tle strong writing on subjects that affect us most. Matters of political, scientific. historical and sociological interest are so poorly presented that few people care to go through tne literature issued upon them. I have served as editor of a mag azine, and V think I know what I am talking about when I say there has not been a magazine published in ten years in which the subjects have been prop erly presented. When the people ask the magazine editor why he doesn t give them a better magazine I think the edi tor is justified in asking the people why they don't write better. "Instruction in modern ucversities is not calculated to produce formative, cre ative work. It is entirely too analyti cal. Every youth should be thought to make something in words as he is taught to make things in the manual training departments of schools. There should be post graduate schools in which the best novelists, the best essay ists, the best political writers, the beat historians, etc., should be employed as instructors. "To the people who say that the power of oratory or impressive speech is gone. I would point out the . effectiveness of the speech delivered in your city by Wil liam J. Bryan at the democratic conven tion a few years ago. Before that ex cited mass of flabby indecision there arose a man who by the mere force of speech carried the day for himself and his opinions. Consider Henry George's1 "Progress and Poverty." The style of that book made it read by thousands of people who had avoided other literature on the same subject. We too often toil to dig up truth and then bury it in dull writing' The Independent congratulates Mr. Walter Page upon having seen the truth at last. Although he is four or five years behind the Independent and most of the old pop farmers of this state, he . A 1 T T T. I'l is to ue commeaueu. xi a lew more lit erary gentlemen who live in the provin cial part of the United States bordering on the Atlantic ocean, will wake up they may be able to write something; that will be of benefit to humanity be fore they die. None of them have for the last ten years. When D. Clem Deaver was steward at the institute for the .deaf and Tessio Deaver, drew pay as matron, and the whole family lived at the institute rent free and board free, Clem looked upon fusion as a divine institution. But it's different now; As a prominent populist of Omaha said the other day: "I believe in harmony and fusion; Deaver believes in hell and confusion." However, at fifty per week, cash on the spot every Saturday night, it is much better to be the editor of a mid-road pop paper than, to be steward at a state institution, even with board and rent free, nd wife ou the pay roll to boot.