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noolecl with the work of Mr. Hull's conimittco.
rTha Credit-Mobilior scandal relegated a largo
number of congressmen to private life, and yet
the connection botweon Mr. Hull, the chairman
of the military committee, and Mr. Hull, the cap
italist, is much closer than the connection be
tween an ordinary congressman and the Crtdit
Mobilier. Mr. Hull says if the time ever comcB when he
is not permitted to invest in a legitimate enter
prise, he will leave politics. But would he have
invested in this enterprise if he had been out of
politics? lie is president of tho company, was
there any reason for his selection other than his
political prominence?
Mr. Hull is too intelligent a man not see the
impropriety of his position, and it indicates a
very low standard of morality when his republi
can colleagues in the House dofend his action.
When John Quincy Adams entered the House
of Representatives he sold his bank stock in
order that ho might not be pecuniarily interested
in legislation on that subject. Tho difference be
tween Mr. Adams and Mr. Hull is obvious.
A few years ago a Senate committee investi
gated the charge that certain senators had specu
lated in sugar stock while the senate was consider
ing the tariff on sugar, and everybody recognized
that it was not legitimate. One senator explained
that his son had speculated some without his
knowledge, while another senator admitted a
purchase of' sugar stock but insisted that the ser
vant girl sent a dispatch which he had written,
but afterwards decided not to, send. One senator
only, Mr. Quay, of Pennsylvania, acknowledged
and defended such transactions.
"Wo now have a considerable number of men
in official position who are directly and intimately
connected with large corporations, and through
these corporations are pecuniarily interested in
the legislation which they have to pass upon. Is
this fair to" tho public? Tho Express companies
aro interested in postal legislation because the
poBtofiico department is a competitor with them in
tho carrying of small packages and newspapers.
Senator Piatt of New York is connected with one
of tho great express companies; is ho in position
to protect the interests of the people at large on
such a subject? Congress deals with interstate
railroad rates and discriminations, besides having
supervision over tho compensation paid to rail
roads for carrying mail. Senator Depow is so
closely connected with tho railroad interests of
tho country that ho cannot be expected to repre
sent tho people's side of any question in which the
, railroads aro interested. Senator Depow, how
ever, is only one of the railroad attorneys in Con
gress; there aro others.
How many senators and representatives have
stock in tho trusts which aro denounced by repub
lican platforms and protected by republican rep
resentatives? The officials whose names have been mentioned
are not worse than some others, but they are
tho most conspicuous representatives of their
class. They are not so much to blame as tho peo
ple who elect them. Just as long as the voters
are indifferent to public affairs, just so long will
tho officers and agents of great corporate interests
enter public life, not for tho mimosa of fidvmininrr
the interests of the people generally but for the
"M,UUVJ VA iuwuuiiij vi auviwiuuig meir private
interests. Just as long as voters are willing to
forgjve the offense, just so long will publio offi
cials Boll their political influence to the syndicates
and combinations which infest legislative halls
nd prey upon tho publio through speoial legiala-
The Commoner.
tion. The public servant should be above sus
picion, he should prize a clean record and a rep
utation for lidelity above dollars, but we cannot
expect such public servants until the voters them
selves are willing to punish betrayals of trust.
Prof. Shaler's Opinion.
According to tho St. Louis Republic, Prof.
Shaler, a geologist of Harvard College, predicts
such an increase in tho production of gold as to
lessen its purchasing power and compel a return
to silver. He says:
If the price of gold goes down, another metal
must be looked for as a token of international value.
I think this metal will be silver, because silver is not
found i n alluvial plains, and because, owing to the
difficulty in mining, it will never change in value.
Within the past few years men have come to real
ize that a large portion of the earth's surface is
charged with gold. Gold is indissoluble, and when
gravel banks are cut away it is not easily carried off
by streams to the sea, as is the case with other
metals Instead, it is carried along, broken up into
finer and finer fragments and gradually deposited
over alluvial plains.
The new systems of mining which have recently
been discovered will have produced by the middle of
the present century an almost intolerable supply of
gold. I cannot say definitely what the increase will
be, but 1 should think at the least that the present
supply will be quadrupled.
When the supply of gold becomes "intol
lerable," it will bo interesting to watch the finan
ciers shift over to the silver side of the question.
Between 1850 and 1860, when the gold supply
was increasing, the money changers were firm
advocates of silver and they will be again ifcon
ditions become such as to make silver the scarcer
metal.' Bimetalists, however, still believe that
the world can use to advantage all the precious
metal, both gold and silver, that is likely to be
discovered.
W
Exploiters on the Ground.
JDuring the debate on the Philippine amend
ment, Senator Tillman called attention to a
communication addressed by Judge Taft, of the
Benevolent Assimilation Commission, to the
secretary of war. The Judge asked that the mess
age, if approved by the secretary,' be transmitted
"to proper senators and representatives." There
is nothing to rIiow how tho "proper" senators
and representatives were to bo distinguished from
the others, but he seems to have had confidence"
that Secretary Root would exercise discretion in
the matter. In this remarkable message he said;
"Until its passage (the Spooner amendment) no
purely central civil government can be established,
no public franchise of any kind granted, and no
substantial investment of private capital in in
ternal improvements possible."
Here, we have the reason for the Spooner
amendment. The franchise-grabbers were on
hand and the private capital was 'waiting for a
chance "to begin internal improvements. "What
an opportunity for street car lines, water plants
and lighting systems! When we see how these
franchises have been given away in this country,,
where the people have a right to vote, we can
imagine the liberty that will be allowed where the
rulers are not restrained by the victims.
Judge Taft',8 remark recalls an interview given
out by an imperialist before tho treaty was signed.
He was a foreign consul stationed at Manila and
came to this country to help organize a syndicate
for the development of the islands." He said that
his syndicate would establish banks, lighting
plants, water systems, street, car lines, railroads,
factories, etc. etc., and in his interview he ex
plained that it was the "duty" of the United
States to hold the Philippine Islands permanently.
In other words, he was satisfied that the United
States ought to hold the Filipinos while his syn
dicate developed them. The opponents of a
colonial policy have pointed out that the people
would pay the expenses while the corporations
would reap the profits. In the very beginning
tho opponents of imperialism asked: If this
question is to be settled on tho basis of dollars ami
cents, who will insure the nation that the receipts
will equal the expenditures? Who will guaran
tee that the income from the Philippines, be it
great or small, will find its way back to the pock
ets of the people who, through taxation, will
furnish the money?
But the Taft Commission goes on to say:
Sale of public lands and allowance of mining
claims impossible uhtil Spooner bill. Hundreds o
American miners on ground awaiting law to perfect
claims. More coming. Good element in pacification
Urgently recommend amendment Spooner bill so that
its operation be not postponed until complete sup
pression of all insurrection, but only until in Presi
dent's judgment civil government maybe safely estab
lished. So it seems that American miners are on hand
ready to take charge of the minerals as soon as
they can perfect their claims. Of course, as the
President has frequently told us, our nation is not
actuated by any sordid thought of gain in taking
,the Philippines; it is all a matter of "duty and
destiny. " But it is probably necessary to give
, away their franchises and their valuable mines in
order to convince them that our interest in them
is purely unselfish and benevolent.
The report of the Taft Commission shows that
the islands contain about " seventy-three million
acres of land, of which less than five millions are
held in private ownership, leaving in public lauds
over sixty-eight million acres." The most hide
bound partisan can have no reason to doubt tho
purpose of the administration to turn over the
land of the Filipinos to capitalists and adventur
ers after reading the following from the Taft re
port: It is thought that a system of laws of public
lands can be inaugurated without waiting until the
survey is completed. The commission has received a
sufficient number of applications for the purchase of
public lands to know that large amounts of American
capital are only .awaiting the opportunity to invest in
the rich agricultural field which may here be de
veloped. In view of the decision that the military
government has no power to part with tho public
land belonging to the United States, and that the
power rests alone in Congress, it becomes very essen
tial, to assist the development of these islands and
their prosperity, that Congressional authority be
vested in tho government of the islands to adopt a
proper public-Jand system, and to sell the land upon
proper terms. Thoro should, of course, bo restric
tions preventing the acquisition of too largo quanti
ties by any individual or corporation, but those re
strictions should only be imposed after giving duo
weight to tho circumstances that capital can not be
secured for tho development of the islands unless the
investment may be sufficiently great to justify the
expenditure of large amounts for expensive machin
ery and equipments. Especially is this true in the
cultivation of sugar land.
Restricted powers of a military government re
ferred to in discussing the public lands are also pain-
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