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VOL. XIII.
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, MAY 1, 1902.
NO. 50.
HILL FOR PRESIDENT
V
la That Erent There is no Inne Between
the Democratic and Repub
lican Parties
Editor Independent: Mr. Hill, in
iis recent speech, February 22, said:
"The democratic party should again
press to the front the Issue of rev
enue reform. The republican prin
ciple or practice of protection is based
on the right to use the powers of gov
ernment for individual purposes. Our
republican friends make revenue the
Incident and protection the main pur
pose of all tariff taxation."
He is in favor of a tariff for revenue
only and wants to make an issue be
tween revenue tariffs and protective
tariffs, without showing the people
what they have to gain by the change.
The republicans- are collecting two
hundred millions annually for the
government by means of a protective
tariff, and Mr. Hill proposes to collect
the same amount from the people by
means of a revenue tariff. He ought
to show that the people can pay the
required amount more easily on the
revenue plan than on the protective
plan, otherwise he presents no issue
for them to vote upon. This he does
not do, and' therefore he presents no
Issue.
The democratic party ought to stand
for two Ideas:. First, the rich shall
pay taxes in proportion to their
riches; second, the people, through
the government, shall control the vol
ume of money.
Mr. Hill does not support either of
these propositions. He does not favor
an income tax, which -would tax peo
ple according to their wealth. He
does not support the idea of having
the government control the money,
because he favors free coinage of gold
which allows the owners of gold to
control the amount of money. He op
poses free coinage of silver which
must be good If free coinage of gold
is good. He favors revenue tariffs
which must be bad if protective tariffs
are bad. He says, free coinage of gold
Is good, which, if true, proves that
free coinage of silver is good. He op
poses protection, which, if bad, proves
tariffs for revenue only to be bad as
against an income tax.
The republicans favor free coinage
of gold; so does Mr. Hill. The repub
licans believe In protective tariffs.
Mr. Hill believes that the duties ought
to be shifted from one class of com
modities to another class, whicb
would be harder for the common peo
ple to bear. Hill does not, therefore,
differ essentially from the republicans.
He ought to join with republicans and
help them elect their candidates in
stead of trying to do business in the
name of democracy. His wing of the
democratic party does not represent
more than 10 per cent of democratic
voters and yet he and his friends
claim the right to take possession ot
the party machinery and nominate all
candidates and lead the party.
The appointment of the democratic
congressional campaign committee
Bhows that Mr. Hill and his friends
are to control the election of the next
house of representatives. This Is the
preliminary work of the next presi
dential election. Here in the east any
democrat who voted for Bryan will bo
cast aside as unfit to be mentioned or
noticed as a candidate. Only those
who follow Hill and his friends will
be considered. What are democrats to
do who voted for Bryan? Evidently
they will nave to make independent
nominations or vote the republican
ticket. This they can do as consis
tently as Hill did, in 1896 and 1900,
when they supported the republican
nominations.
The wealth of all the people of the
United States amounts to one hundred
thousand million dollars ($100,000,
000,000) and the income from this
property in the shape of rent, or in
terest, or dividends amounts to four
thousand million dollars ($4,000,000,
000) annually, counting four per cent
as the average rate. Here 13 an au
nual fund that ought to be used for
the support of the federal government,
before attempting to tax incomes de
rived from wages, salaries, or thy
profits of a business. The annual rent,
interest and dividends ($4,000,000,000)
are what those pay, who work for
wages salaries and profits. Mr. Hilt
proposes to put the whole expense of
supporting the federal government
upon the rent payers, the interest pay
ers and the dividend payers instead cf
putting it upon the rent receivers, in
terest receivers or the dividend re
ceivers. Those who pay the four thou
sand millions annually are to pay. In
addition thereto, the sum of five hun
dred millions annually towards the
eupport of the federal government, ac
cording to Mr. Hill. This is to be paid
by import duties and excise taxes ju
domestic manufactures. The govern
ment collects two hundred millions
annually through the custom houses,
besides three hundred millions on do
mestic manufactures. This makes an
annual sum of five hundred millions
to be paid by the working and bv.sl
" ness people, in addition to all the
rent, interest and dividends which
they pay; and they pay it by paying
high prices on what they eat, drink
and wear and Mr. Hill proposes to
continue this system. He proposes to
do It by talking about the two con
flicting systems of tariff taxation in
stead of talking about an income tax
or any kind of tax that will fall upon
ealth.
If the federal government were sup
ported by those who are receiving four
thousand millions annually it would
only take one-eighth of their Income,
leaving them seven-eighths, . all of
which they get from the labor of oth
ers. The auestion narrows itself down
to this: Shall we start towards an In
come tax? or shall, we stand still and
continue to talk about the compara-
entlrely by those who are receiving
the four thousand millions, but if we
start now, we shall ultimately get
there. We shall certainly never get
there If we do not start. It will be a
long road to travel,. but. if 'we begin
by getting a small sum annually out
of the rich people and by relieving
the poor from an equal amount i on
their food, drink ; and. clothing, we
shall be encouraged to go further, un
til finally we shall see the federal
government supported entirely by tli
rich and the poor entirely relieved.
Mr. Hill stands for two ideas, name
ly, the rich are to be exempt from tax
ation for support of the federal gov
ernment (unless they happen to pay
the . same amount that poor people,
without property, pay); secondly, the
rich are to be allowed to issue all the
money. These two privileges will cer
tainly make the rich richer and the
poor poorer. It is Impossible to be
lieve that any person who stands for
these two propositions can be a demo
crat. It is a system that encourages
trusts, monarchy and imperialism. It
is unrepublican and undemocratic. It
Is contrary o what Jefferson taught,
who founded the first republican par
ty, contrary to what Lincoln taught,
who founded the second republican
party, and contrary to what Andrew
Jackson taught when he and his
friends founded the democratic party
In 1828, but not contrary to what one
wing of the democratic party taught
afterwards -when they pronounced for
revenue tariffs ' and negro slavery.
Mr. Hill does not now preach in favor
of negro' slavery, but he preaches for
a gold standard which, In connection
with his revenue tariff, will not only
enslave one race, but all races of man
kind. JNO. S. DE HART.
Jersey City,' N. J.
Ten Millions .Suffer
"There are ten millions of suffering
people across the water, silent, un
heard, but whose very souls cry out
against wrongs cruel, unspeakable be
yond the ken of mortal language to
describe. There are more than seven
ty millions on this side of the water
wanting to know the truth, heretofore
stifled and suppressed. This bill
strikes its roots into and derives its
support from that excrescence upon
the army appropriation bill of 1901.
known as the Spooner amendment.
The qualification of the absolute pow
er therein conferred, adopted at the
instance of the senator from Massa
chusetts, by this -bill is eliminated.
v "All property rights in the islands
and the fate of their; inhabitants are
turned over to the - control, and dis
position of the commission, without
any qualification of importance. Ths
commission may declare war and
make peace; raise armies and provide
navies; regulate commerce with all
sorts of discriminations between isl
ands and ports; levy taxes without
limit and without uniformity. It may
coin money and regulate the value
thereof, and may establish religion
and punish those who do not conform
to its tenets. It may destroy free
speech, and punish as an act of sedi
tion the publication of the truth in
regard to its administration.. It can
establish an inquisition, devise and
apply methods of excruciating torture,
compelling persons to be . witnesses
against themselves and disclose infor
mation which the commission may de
sire to extort. It is useless to say
that this power will not be abused. At
tention will be invited to some In
stances in the history of our relations
with the . islands showing the extent
to i which our representatives have
gone in acts of. perfidy, injustice, op
pression and cruelty."
While Senator Rawlins was deliver
ing the speech from which the above
is an extract, the republican senators
would not stay In the senate chamber.
They fled to their committee rooms
rather than listen to fierce invective
with which they and their army was
assailed.
Herbert G. Skinner, who has just
returned from service in the Philip
pines, where he served with company
I, 6th United States infantry, in
speaking at Brockton, Mass., concern
ing the stories of cruelty perpetrated
by the United States soldiers and offi
cers there, said: "Six Filipinos were
hung up by their arms for seventy-two
hours by one outfit to gain informa
tion. The water cure I saw practiced
several times, and it usually brought
a fellow round to telling what was
wanted, although sometimes the fel
low lied. The most exciting expedi
tion In which I was concerned was
with Lieut.-Col. Scott In the vicinity
of Panay. We got orders to take no
prisoners over twelve years of age and
leave no Filipinos alive. So' it was a
case of kill the natives on sight. It
is nonsense to say women and chil
dren were also killed. The only men
tortured were those who had informa
tion." ' '. .
The testimony of this and several
other returned soldiers establishes the
fact that the orders to shoot every
thing over ten or twelve years of age
and take no prisoners has . been the
general practice all over the Philip
pines. For that kind of work, which
is simply savagery, the imperialists
of this country are responsible. There
has been nothing equal to it since the
dark ages. These people have suf
fered "silent and unheard."
PRIVATE POSTOFFICES
Silver reached the lowest point ever
known last week, namely, 51 cents.
But the purchasing power of the silver
dbllar did not vary the thousandth
part of a mill in: consequence of it."
Why,? Because ; the silver dollar is
legal tender. ' That Is the reason and
the only 1 reason, Repeal the law
making it a tender- for debt, and in
twenty-four hours it would be worth
a good deal less than one-half of its
face value. It is the "flat" of the gov-
iffjaxrojjaxuiernjri oxxtliatJreepJtiat-a Parity with
Tarn the Postofflce Department Over to
, The Express Companies Says
Chairman Load
The Independent has heretofore
commented on the good work being
done by the Postal Progress league,
having headquarters at Boston. The
immediate object of the league is "to
secure the reclassification of mail mat
ter on the scientific basis of cost of
the service rendered; the reduction of
postal rates; the establishment of a
parcels post; free delivery, house to
house, within our entire domain; the
extension, as rapidly as possible, of
domestic rates to foreign business;
postal insurance of all mall matter;
and a postal currency for the payment
of small accounts by mail."
"This country," says the league,
"has the best transport machinery in
the world; it should have the be3t
an'd cheapest postal service." All per
sons in sympathy with the objects set
forth are invited to become members
at one dollar a year. Mr. Hartley Den
nett, 98 Devonshire bldg., Boston,
Mass., is treasurer.
The league's second installment of
printed matter is entitled, "The Post
office In Peril from Within." This has
been painfully evident to close ob
servers for some time. Congressman
Loud of California, chairman of the
present house postal committee an
emissary and representative of certain
express companies has been for sev
eral years the avowed leader of the
hostile forces against the postofflce,
and nothing except the fear of an
angry constituency has prevented
enough other republican members
from helping him carry through his
nefarious schemes. Beneficent as it is
to the people as a whole, the postoffice
is a menace to those enjoying special
privileges, and the officials of rail
roads, express companies, telegraphs,
etc., are not slow to do all in their
power to discredit it. The moral and
political effect of the postoffice depart
ment has been to open the eyes of la
borers employed by public service cor
porations and make them favorable
to public ownership. This the bene
ficiaries of special privileges deplore,
and their energies are directed toward
breaking down the most notable ex
ample of successful public ownership
and operation in the country the
postoffice.
The league calls attention to cer
tain paragraphs which have appeared
in the different postal committee re
ports ' since 1897 the language - being
identical in each. (See reports on
H. R. 4566 for 1897; H. R. 5359 for
1898, and H. R. 6071 for 1900.) The
author is Mr. Loud, and he was evi
dently too lazy to re-write or be
lieved he had expressed his thoughts
so well that no improvement could be
made.
"There is much maudlin sentiment,"
says the report, "among many of our
people about the postofflce department
Many compare it with the war and
navy departments, and say it should
not be run for profit, or even to pay
the expense of operation, but should
be supported by taxation, and run "n
the interest of and for the people. To
our mind, however, there is no com
parison: the one is for the defense of
the nation as a whole; no one individ
ual needs their protecting arm more
than another, and all are taxed ac
cording to their means for their sup
port." At least two misstatements in
one paragraph is rather a good (or
bad) record for lying. The man with
little property needs little protection
from the army and navy and gets
practically none. The man or corpora
tion with much property needs more
and gets substantially all. In time
of need the one with small property
will be found in the ranks of the vol
unteers helping protect the country,
while the rich man hires a substitute,
stays at home and amasses more
wealth by taking advantage of the
suffering of his fellowmen. The state
ment that "all are taxed according to
their means' for support of the army
and navy Is most monstrous. All are
taxed according to what they consume,
and that means that the poor man
pays anywhere from one hundred to
ten thousand times as much for their
support,, according to his means, as
the rich man does. Mr. Loud certainly
knew that.
"The postoffice department," the
report goes on to say, "is an accommo
dation to the great mass of our peo
ple, but not an absolute necessity;
PRIVATE MEANS . could as well, or
BETTER, be adapted to the transmis
sion of our .mails and In the opinion
of the writer of this report and that
opinion is formed . after many years
of practical and theoretical experience
In postal affairs could be so done
much more cheaply, with quicker dis
patch, and better satisfaction to the
people." If he means the Wells Far
go express "people," why, yes, cer
tainly, they would be better satisfied.
So would Loud, their agent. Not a
particle of doubt that a private con
cern could do the present postal busi
ness at less cost (to themselves) than
our government pays but the people
at large would pay heavier rates, and
there would be discriminations, and
franks for all sorts of ward heelers
and political parasites. No private
concern would pay such exorbitant
rates to the railroads as the govern
ment pays. No private concern would
pay postal clerks and other employes
the wages they now receive. And the
private concern would, after "'water
ing" its stock several times, pay a
handsome return on its "investment"
and many mullet heads would point
with pride to the grand work being
done by our "private postal trust."
"But," this philosopher of the ex
press companies continues, '"it is not
our intent to now advocate so radical
a change, for our people can more
peacefully bear those Ills : they have
people (that is, his "express people")
is that it encourages the growth of an
AGRARIAN: sentiment which' point3
to the , postoffice , department and ; ex
claims, 'See . how- well the : postal ser
vice is managed in the interest of us
all, and ' how, cheaply-- it lis operated ;
this is our strong bulwark of defence,
and illustrates in golden letters that
the true course for the government is
to become, the parent' and owner and
operate all means of . transportation
and transmission.' " That lets one cf
the corporation cats .out of the .'bag.
The public postoffice must go eventual
ly because it is a disseminator of pop
ulism. Agrarianism is radically, dif
ferent from populism, but Loud would
have no hesitancy about substituting
one term for another. He and his ex
press people do not fear agrarianism
that is, a re-distribution of the, land
but they do fear populism,, which
means competition in the competitive
field and public' Ownership and opera
tion of the means of transportation
and transmission of intelligence.
Chairman- Loud has an undoubted
right to hold views, hostile to the gov
ernment, postoffice - department, but
could an honorable ; man hold such
views and insist and persist In being
chairman of the postal - committee?
The republican party is responsible for
the membership of this committee-
it cannot pose as a friend of the post
office and retain them in their present
position. ... , - . . .'
The miserable creatures who edit the
Nebraska republican dailies, and espe
cially the one who edits the Bee, have
made another demonstration of their
contemptible instincts within the last
few; days.- Until the , administration
announced that it had evidence to es
tablish the fact that there was a beef
trust, they all " ridiculed the idea of
such a thing, . buUas. soon as the news
from Washington reached them they
flopped. .They have no principles and
no opinions. They are simply dough
faces. If a head of a department rubs
a hand down over their visages, then
their faces are long If a chuck under
the chin is given, then their faces are
short until some republican leader
manipulates them again. They de
serve nothing but contempt and that
is what is meted out to them by all
men of honor. -
The owners of beet' sugar stock go
down to Washington and ; claim that
they represent the poor, down-trodden
farmers. That' story Is plenty good
enough to fool a mullet head, . but
the ordihary farmer -simply smiles, v A
few farmers in this state: raise sugar
beets and take 'just' what the .beet
sugar trust is -pleased ;to give t: them.
Not one of -them so far has appeared
in Washington; to fight reciprocity
with Cuba. ., It is the other fellows who
have been there telling how they rep
resented the farmer. But none of
them ever showed any credentials The
farmer's idea about the matter is this:
"I don't want to tax any one else to
support me; I can make my own liv
ing. If Oxnard don't want to pay me
as much for raising sugar beets as I
can make raising cattle, hogs and corn,
then I won't raise beets. Let Oxnard
do the howling. . It's no fight of mine."
These Manila court-martials .will be
famous in history fifty or a hundred
years from now. An "officer is charged
with shooting prisoners of war with
out a trial. The officers who sit as
trial judges have been engaged in the
same sort of business and although
tr e charge' is not denied, they acquit
him. Then a general is charged with
ordering the slaughter of all the male
inhabitants of a whole province. He
appears before the court and says that
is all true. He ordered the boys shot
because a Filipino boy over ten, fight
ing for liberty alongside of his father,
was a perfidious and dangerous foe.
All the republican editors are defend
ing this general and as he. is tried be
fore men engaged in. the same kind of
so-called war, he hasn't much to fear.
A)l this will make queer sort of his
tory. What will the school boys fifty
years from now think about it? '
Trust smashing does not mean the
destruction of great business enter
prises and a return to primitive meth
ods of production. It does mean, how
ever, that the trusts shall be deprived
of their power to kill off competition,
their power to dictate prices. Of
course, when this is done, the "trusts"
as such will cease to exist; but the
great manufacturing establishments
now run as such can go right On man
ufacturing as before, except that,they
will be shorn of their power to crush
out other concerns engaged in sim
ilar business.1 This can in great meas
ure be accomplished by abolishing tar
iff imposts, and substituting an income
tax to furnish . revenues . for the fed
eral government; by government own
ership and operatibn of the railroads
and kindred public utilities, thereby
abolishing secret rebates and favorit
ism. ' : '
, Little despots are springing up all
over the land since this reign of Im
perialism began. The little fellows pat
tern after the big ones, .and if the
thing goes on. It will not be long be
fore we shall have a government of
despots, .big and little, instead of a
government of law. A while ago the
city council of Omaha passed an ordi
nance regulating bill boards. The lit
tle despot who rules the city under the
title of mayor simply: wrote a letter
to the council saying that: the law
would not be enforced and It has
not been enforced: The big wind down
there the other day blew over every
bill board In the city, one person was
killed by: them and several others se
verely injured, because the . little
despot refused to compel them to be
constructed according to law. - The loss
of a few ' lives never affects a despot
In the least; and Moores goes on his
OUR FOREIGN DEBT
Mr. "Warren Comments on Onr Foreign
Debt and the Enermens Tribute
Paid to Foreigners
(This is the third of the series of
articles furnished The Independent by
Hon. Marvin Warren. Ed. Ind.)
From the same beginning of that
great money contraction in 1865, a for
eign debt began its fast growth against
the people of the United States, in
favor of British capitalists, and it has
grown more or less every year since
thirty-six years; Of late I have been
getting in hand items of republican
authority of first-class data to build
a computation upon, and to this data I
have been applying the rules and fig
ures of arithmetic, that never lis,
very diligently "and carefully, to see
as near as possible just what this thirty-six
years of republican management
has resulted: in to the country.
The national republican platform
says, "Our present dependence upon
foreign shipping for . nine-tenths of
our foreign carrying trade Is a great
loss to the industry of this country."
All republicans and everybody else
should know most assuredly that the
same cause precisely that has worked
the loss of our foreign carrying ves
sels, is working the loss of our rail
roads, factories, mines and other
property, is building up a great for
eign debt against this country, and i3
creating a great foreign tribute, de
signed by foreigners to enslave the la
bor of this country for all time to
come; and the leading cause of all
this is the republican clap-trap gold
standard.:
OPINONS OF EXPERTS.
The following are quotations from
monograph No. 11, by Gen. A. J. War
ner, late president of the National bi
metallic union, dated 1897:
"Air. Goshen in-his Foreign Ex
changes, in referring to the early part
of 1861, says the United States 'had
established a surplus of claims on for
eign countries.'
"Prior to 1860, 75 per cent of the
traffic to and from the United States
was carried in American vessels, sc
that we were not-in debt on this ac
count, and before 1860 comparatively
little was expended by Americans in
traveling in foreign countries. Hence,
it is safe to assume that in 1860 our
debt abroad was insignificant, if any
at all existed.
"Our present debt, therefore, has
accumulated since 1860. It really-"began
c in 1862-'3, and grew rapidly from
1865 to 1869, and has continued to in
crease ever since.1-
"In 1869 Mr. David A. Wells, then
special commissioner of the revenue,
estimated our. entire debt abroad at
$1,465,500,000, made up as follows:
Government bonds $1,000,000,000
State and municipal bonds , 107,500,000
Railway, bonds . 130,000,000
Railway; stocks 113,000,000
Mis. stocks and bonds... 15,000,000
Real estate mortgages... 25,000,000
Money on deposit in this
country or temporarily
invested 75,000,000
$1,465,500,000
He estimated the interest on this
debt at $80,000,000. the cost of carrying
trade at that date at $24,000,000 a
year; and expenditures of Americans
in, foreign countries at $25,000,000,
making a total amount of annual pay
ments abroad in 1869, exclusive of
merchandise balances, $129,000,000.",
"Prof. J. E. Carnes, following Mr.
Wells, made our debt to England "in
1869 300,000,000 pounds sterling, with
annual dues for interest of $80,000,000,
to which he added $25,000,000 for mer
chandise carried in- foreign bottoms,
$25,000,000 more as expended by Am
ericans in traveling in foreign coun
tries, and the average merchandise
balance against us of $44,000,000, mak
ing a total of $174,000,000, which he
estimated was required in 1869 as an
annual tribute from the United States
to foreign countries, after balancing
imports with exports."
"Mr. Alfred S. Heidelbach, in tl-.e
February number of the Forum for
1875, without stating the amount of
American securities held abroad,
places the annual, interest on such se
curities, as a minimum, at $75,000,000
and estimates $75,000,000 more as
profits on foreign investments in. this
country, making $150,000,000 as the
sum required to pay interest and divi
dends on foreign investments In the
United States."
"Ernest Seyd estimated the interna
tional debt of the United States at the
end of 1874 . at 400,000,000 pounds, or
$2,000,000,000, with interest still aver
aging 6 . per cent, or $120,000,000 a
year'. r :
All the . foregoing' opinions of ex
perts are copied word for word from
the aforesaid monograph No. 11, of
A. J. Warner, who explained to me
1j letter that said David A. Wells, was
then, In 1869, special commissioner of
the revenue of the United States, un
der President Grant's, administration.
That Prof. J. E. Carnes was a learned
and eminent political economic writ?r
of Glasgow, Scotland, and that Alfred
S. Heidelbach is, or was, a rioted
banker and financier of New York
city. I suppose that the reason Gen
eral Warner did not say anything to
me : In ; his letter about Ernest Seyd
was because he considered him as such
a renowned .English nnancier as to
need no commendation. These four
expert opinions, of Wells, Cairnes,
Heidelbach . and Seyd, coming as they
do from sources so wide apart, appear
to.be made up entirely independent of
each other, and when considered in re
spect to i the different points upon
which they speak, and the difference in
the times of their utterance, they are
in harmony with and corroborate each
other, and go far In establishing a
basis upon which we may estimate a
true approximate amount of the great
MtlMqrnnntrv tQfgreigaers.
A. Wells is especially useful, because
of Its clear, high official and repubil
can character, and should have the
utmost confidence of all republicans.
There are four causes of accruing
debt against this country in favor of
foreigners, namely, interest on debta
already existing, profits on foreign in
vestments here, freight costs of our
foreign carrying trade In foreign
owned vessels, and expenses of Ameri
cans in foreign travels. It will bo
noticed that Prof. J, E. Cairnes in hia
opinion above stated, calls all these
costs against us "tribute," to foreign
ers and this is .the right name for
them.
In regard to our tribute for freight
costs in. foreign owned vessels we
have at hand another opinion of high
est order and of a much later date
than either of those already given.
President William McKinley in his
letter of acceptance of the nomination,
dated September 8, 1900, said:
"Ninety-one per cent of our exportu
and imports are now carried by for
eign ships. For ocean transportation
we pay annually to foreign ship own
ers over $165,000,000. - We ought to
own the ships for our carrying traue
with the world. I have called atten
tion of congress to this subject in my
several annual messages."
This opinion is entitled to the most
explicit confidence, because it is a vir
tual admission that a great, evil has
come upon the country by ? long re
publican rule, as I will hereinafter
prove. But be this as it may, I think
there can be no difference among us
as to the right method of computing
the amount of tribute or cost' to for
eigners that this country has been
subject to for our ocean transportation
of freights of merchandise.
According to the official republican
authority of David A. Wells, already
hereinbefore given, the cost of this;
country for such ocean freightage was
$24,000,000 yearly,' in 1869. ' According
to the McKinley. official republican au
thority this yearly cost had Increase ;l
in 1900 to over $165,000,000. No doubt
both estimates are reliable. ' The great
increase of cost was by Americans
selling their vessels to foreigners more
and more, and by the great increase of
this ocean carrying business.
The treasury department document!'
that I have, show that the Increase of
the carrying trade was about uniform
throughout this whole time, from 1869
'to 1900, and of course the increase of
cost to this country must have been
about uniform. .The time between the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1869, and
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, ia
just thirty-tWO:years. It will be right
and fair to divide this thirty-two yearn
into four parts of eight years each,
and to assume that for. the first eight
years the ocean freightage cost this
country in the account with foreign
ers an average of $40,000,000 per year;
for the second eight years an average
of $80,000,000 per year; for the third
eight years an average of $120,000,000
per year, and , for ' the fourth eight
years an average of $160,00,000 per
year. . ': .. - -! -.
The Chicago packers : continue to
quote $7 to $7.25 for a small portion of
the beef steers that come to that mar
ket, most of which they ! buy from,
themselves, while the stockmen are
forced to take in the neighborhood of
$4 to $5 for what they bring to that
market, whereat the stockmen howl.
One of them, after doing the best he
could with his shipment, paid : "Let
me tell you that the majority of beef
cattle bought in this market sticks
pretty close to the $4 mark, And its
good prime beef at that. . I know what
I am talking about. I bring good stock
to these yards and the best price that I
have gotten up to the present time is
$4.25." But Knox is attorney general
and the beef trust magnates sleep. well
and enjoy life. v
The republicans are getting terribly
interested in "protection for our agri
cultural interests." The products of
the American farm make up a vast
proportion of our exports and they are
sold in the markets of the whote
world. To talk about "protection" for
them is Idiocy. The "protection" that
the republicans have given farmers
consist in making them pay extortion
ate prices when they import blooded
stock to improve their horses an$
cattle, or seeds and plants to improve
their crops. If a farmer wants some
northern grown variety of wheat from
Canada, or a new variety from the
plains of Russia he has to pay a big
tariff duty before he can get it. That
is the only "protection" that the
farmer has experienced.
The republican editors of this state
are afraid to mention the name of
this paper when they quote from it lest
some of their readers might learn,
where such writing was to be found
and send for a sample copy. If any
of their readers should do that, these
editors feel sure that they would be
forever lost to the republican party,
and so they plan to keep them in
ignorance. The best plan ever Invented
to keep people In ignorance is to get
them to read republican papers. That
acounts for the numerous mullet
heads among the people, who, if they
had ever had a chance, would have
been respectable, intelligent citizen?.
How could any one expect a man to
know anything who never read3 any
thing but a republican paper? It is 9
prepostrous proposition to claim tha,t
he could.
The republican defense of our title
to the Philippines is as follows: We
bought the "niggers" for two dollars
a head; we have killed 30,000 of them J
we have burned over a hundred of
their towns; we have administer!
the "water cure" to several of their
"presidentes;" we have banished sev
eral thousand, hung a good many andl
imprisoned several . hundred of thenii
"JAWBONE OF AN ASS"
Senator Carmack Dresses Down the X.lttl
Scout The Powerful Meros Ne
braska Delegation
Washington, D. C, April 28, 1902.
(Special Correspondence.) "Funston
is the mightiest hero who ever marsh
aled the dictionary in battle array or
ever wielded the jawbone of an ass as
a weapon of war." Such were the
words of that gallant and intrepid
young senator, Hon. Edward Ward
Carmack, whose speech delivered 'n
the senate on Friday and Saturday of
the last rweek is admittedly the best
speech delivered in many a day. Sen
ator Carmack seems to grow better
in each effort. His speech delivered
In opposition to the Philippine tariff
bill was still' ringing In the ears )Z
the staid old senators it was consid
ered a mastemiece to such a ereat ex
tent that they doubted if the young
man would ever be able to even equal
It. But this last speech delivered in
opposition to the passage of the Phil
ippine government bill will live even
longer in their minds. It was the best
speech that has been delivered in the
senate in the past ten years.
The Associated press dispatches
gave fairly good accounts of the
speech, but as usual "blue-pencilled"
whatever could be taken as a tribute
or a defense to the Hon. William J.
Bryan. Mr. Carmack started out by
telling us that this bill presented an
otfier phase of the imperialistic ten
dencies of the administration. It was
not only a question of framing just
laws for the Filipinos, but a question
of our right to make laws for that
people, "The claim of the republi
cans," said he, "is that they have
burned enough towns, wasted enough
country and killed - enough people to
make good their right. The land is
ours because we have strewn it with
the ashes of its homes and drenched It
with the blood of its people."
He then proceeded to place the re
sponsibility for the whole situation on
the republicans. He replied to Spoon
er who said that "Bryan wanted to
make an issue ot the question," by
showing that Bryan and McKinley
both stood on the same side of the
question before the ratification of the
treaty of Paris. He quoted from the
speeches of Spooner, who delivered
body blows at just the same policies
that he is compelled now to swallow
and closed this part of his speech with
a brilliant tribute to the last candi
date of democracy. He then defended
Bryan on the question of, the ratifica
tiorrt'rlf the treaty of Paris by saying
that had McKinley acted as consistent
ly on the question, there would have
been no murderous war in the Phil
ippines. He then began his attack on Roose
velt. "The idea that you can trans
form the character of a race by teach
ing them to read," said he, "is the
wildest, craziest, and most fanatical
dream that ever flitted through a luna
tic's brain." He quoted utterances
from Roosevelt, charging that "trea
sonable utterances have incited the
Filipinos to rebellion," and said that
we must not judge the president in hU
moments of oratorical ferocity or
when the frenzy of battle was In his
blood. The president is not vindic
tive, but simply "strenuous," and In
this respect resembled a certain horse
down in Tennessee, whose natural
gait was running away. Mr. Roose
velt had habitually spoken of the Fili
pinos as "Apaches" and "barbarians"
and these denunciations had been scat
tered broadcast throughout the islands
to inflame the people against the
United States.
Some of our heroes had been guilty
of a like offense. He referred to Fun
ston as "a jayhawker brigadier from
the plains of wind, the mightiest Sam
son who ever wielded the jawbone of
an ass as a weapon of war." The
newspapers had said that the presi
dent approved of the speeches thit
are made by Funston and wanted him
to accept the invitation of the junior
senator from : Massachusetts (Lodge)
to go to Boston and talk to the peopla
about hanging the senior senator
(Hoar). He said that if Funston were
turned loose he would have to hang
such able republicans as Carl Schurz.
ex-Governor Boutwell and Tom Reed
and then sarcastically rejoined, "Oh.
Mr. President, there has been many a
day when I would liked to have seen
Tom hung.' "If men are to be hanged
without regard to law, for speaking
words calculated to incite rebellion,"
said he, "the first neck to feel the
strangling1 clutch of the soaped roap
would be the heroic gullet of Funston."
Then he delved into the question of
the government of the islands and for
over three hours more devoted his at
tention to . this theme. The speech
took two sessions to deliver and read
ers of The Independent, who are In
terested in the question, as all arc,
will appreciate reading the speech in
full. It is to be used by the committee
this fall as a campaign document.
Senator Rawlins of Utah delivered
the first speech in opposition to tha
bill. This speech took three days to
deliver and presents facts and figures
as they are ably gathered by this ablo
senator. ,
The republican party is feeling a
return of the full dinner pail. Their
old appeal to the stomach of man in
stead of to his brain has proven a
boomerang. The beef trust, composed
of the "big six," all leading republi
cans and contributors to that grand
mother of trusts, has so raised th3
price of beef that even the attorney
general has been compelled to an
nounce that he will bring suit against
it. He will bring suit with as little
effect as the one he brought against
the Northern Securities merger, if
there was an attorney general who
would fight the trusts, they could be
abolished throughout the land with
out the addition of a single line of
legislation. The Intent is the chief
o
Q