't
)
lativc body which otight to stand above suspicion.
Third. Senatorial elections, as conducted at
present, intorfero with the legitimate work of
state legislatures.
Whatever causes may have led to the adoption
of the existing method of electing senators, experi
ence has not only shown that the people can be
itrusted with the direct choice of their public
Bervaiits, but it has also demonstrated that the
nearer the Government is brought to the voters
th'o bettor it is for both the Government and the
people. Thore is more virtue in the masses than
ever finds expression through their representatives,
'because representatives are influenced, to a greater
or less extent, by their personal interests.
It is true that even with popular elections the
nominations would be made by conventions, but
!the fact that the voters would afterwards sit in
judgment upon the work of the delegates would
bo a constant restraint.
The last few years have furnished so many in-
f-stances of corporate influence or corruption
operating in the election of senators that no elab
oration of the. second argument is necessary. It
has become apparent to the most casual observer
that candidatps backed by railroads and other
largo corporations have an enormous advantage
.oyer men who must rely upon their personal
popularity or worth.
While in some instances money has been used
;to urohaso votes outright, the method more fre
quently employed is to place the legislators under
obligation to a particular candidate by pecuniary
id furnished during the campaign. Organized
capital is also able to bring pressure to bear upon
legislators by the bestowal of favors.
But aside from the arguments which affect
the character of the men selected, the best inter
ests of the state require that the legislators shall
bo relieved of the duty of electing senators, be
jgauge legislative candidates cannot now be voted
according to their fitness for legislative work.
.As one-third of the United States senators are
Selected every two, years, two legislative sessions
(where they are. lpteniiial) out of every three are
galled upon to settle a senatorial controversy and
.this controversy, as a rule, overshadows all other
matters.
When the contest is prolonged the regular busi
ness is interrupted by daily balloting and atten
tion is diverted from state affairs.
Two years ago there wore deadlocks in four
states, and this year two legislatures are having
postulate struggles.
Some objoct to the proposed chancre on the
ground that the Constitution should not be dis-
turned, dul tuis is always tne argument of those
yr no are Bausneu wiin inings as they are. The
febeit friends of the Constitution are those who
desire to strengthen it in the affections of the
l&people by making it conform to the wishes of
the people.
Thore is no force in the objeotion urged by
orao that a senator should be seleoted by a legis
lature because lie represents the state. This draws
distincti6n between the state and the people of
me buiuj. ouroiy me onoioe oi a majority of the
jraople would bo more truly a representative of the
te than the ohoice of a minority.
It will be a great viotory for popular govern-
The Commdiief.
ment when the selection of Unitcd'Statcs senators
is taken away from legislatures and given into the
custody of the voters where it rightfully belongs.
W
Liberty a Supreme Good.
Buckle, whose "History of Civilization in
England" has given him a permanent place in
the literary world, was a passionate lover of
liberty. In one of his productions, to be found
in the World's Best Essays, he expresses himself
with so much clearness and emphasis that an ex
tract is given below. It is worth while for the
reader to compare the vigorous logic of the
historian with the complacent philosophy of the
present-day imperialists, who assume that a de
feated monarch can bargain, sell and convey, for
pecuniary consideration, the bodies, souls and
inalienable rights of eight millions of Filipinos.
Buckle says:
"Liberty is the one thing- most essential to the
right development of individuals, and to the real
grandeur of nations. It is a product of knowledge
when knowledge advances in a healthy and regular
manner; but if under certain unhappy circumstances
it is opposed by what seems to be knowledge, then,
in God's name, let knowledge perish and liberty
bo preserved. Liberty is not a means to an end, it is
an end itself. To secure it, to enlarge it, and to dif
fuse it, should be the main object of all social ar
rangements and of all political contrivances. None
but a pedant or a tyrant can put science or literature
in competition with it. Within certain limits, and
very small limits too, it is the inalienable prcrogati e
of man, of which no force of circumstances and no
lapse of time can deprive him. He has no right to
barter it away even from himself, still less from his
children. It is the foundation of all respect, and
without it the great doctrine of moral responsibility,
would degenerate into a lie and a juggle. Etis a
sacred deposit, and the love of it is a holy instinct
engraven on our hearts."
Companionship of Children.
The new district attorney for the city of New
York, in an interview with a newspaper reporter,
said of children:
When I am not working, there's nothing I'd
rather do than spend the ime with them, entering
into their thoughts and watching the development of
their minds. Children are Wonderful beings!
Commenting upon this, the New York World
adds:
The Czar of all the Russias has made it a point
to spend three hours a day with his children. Thomas
Jefferson's happiest hours were spent in working and
playing with his children and grandchildren. Charles
Dickens found his best recreation in the same way.
Abraham Lincoln soothed the anxieties of war days
by romping with his boys in the White House. And
New England's grand old man, Edward Everet Hale,
has kept young in spite of a long life of hard public
labor by cultivating the society of his children and
their children. Wherever, indeed, you find a truly
wise father you will discover him taking and giving
benefits in loving, studying and appreciating- his
children.
Keeping close to the children is not only a
fatherly duty but it is a valuable privilege to the
busy man. Not all of the responsibility for the
rearing of the little ones rests upon the mother,
although it is true the burden is usually shifted
to, her shoulders. But the father can at least set
a good example to his little ones and when seek
ing rest from the cares of his business, he can
aid in their training, and at the same time obtain
profitable relaxation for himself.
The man wlio, seeing go much insincerity in
the world, has become a pessimist, will be1
brought back to his moorings by cultivating the
society of little children. There he will find
sincerity; there he will find friendship; there he
will find truth. And it is not too much to say
that no man is so well educated that he cannot
learn from little children something that will
improve his mind; no man is so good that he
cannot obtain from little children something that
will make him better. The good father should
be a companion to his children, not only in order
that he may assist in their training, but also that
he himself may be benefited by the association.
Mistaken Identity.
The political editor of the Cincinnati Times
Star, feeling it necessary to register his disap
proval of The Commoner, seized his pencil and
dashed off the following brilliant criticism:
In initiating his editorial duties Mr. Bryan is as
unfortunate in his choice of quotations as in his po
litical speeches. The last man of American public
men whom Mr. Bryan should quote is Webster. There
is not a principle which the great Massachusetts states
man stood for which Mr. Bryan represents.
Mr. Bryan errs whenever he attempts to quote
Webster in support of any of his political ideas. The
use of the phrasing of a partial sentence, selected
without regard to the center thought, is a favorite
trick of Mr. Bryan, but an unfortunate one, because
he has almost invariably chosen a phrase which was
inappropriate when read in a fuller light.
When our much esteemed but incautious con
temporary can withdraw himself from the con
templation of Webster the Statesman long enough
to examine a compilation prepared by Webster
the Lexicographer, he will find the definition as
given in the first editorial of The Commoner.
The language quoted was - not, as he intimates,
taken out of its connection.
It must be admitted that the writings of Noah
Webster, of Dictionary fame, are marred by fre
quent change of subject, and seem somewhat dis
connected, but while they lack the stately and
flowing style of the Massachusetts orator, the ed
itor of the Times-Star will find them worthy of
couasional perusal..
Barriers to Freedom.
A San Francisco dispatch of recent date
reports a public sale in that city of five Chinese
-girls who "were "knocked down" to the highest
bidder. These girls were the property of a
Chinaman who was about to leave for'his native
heath. The girls were exhibited, the auctioneer
enumerated their good points, and they were sold
and delivered at prices ranging from $1,700 to
$2,500 each.
To be sure the sale was not legal, but the
"property" did not know it; and as no protest
was made by the well-informed, the sale and
delivery were as effective as though they had full
sanction of the law. Is it not true that wefare
becoming somewhat indifferent in these days to
such proceedings as this? Is it not strange that
in one of the largest cities of this country such
a mockery upon liberty could be made without
evoking indignant and effective protests? Is it
not poBsiblethat we have become negligent in the
duty of orushing out innovations upon American
ideas ?
The San Franoisco Chinaman had a recent
precedent frora which to take encouragement.
7&-4'4Wtt'
