Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (June 14, 1901)
pwwswwpiptww' V 'jfllSmiiiMrnfSn ar i Two Good Hon. TTrey Woodson, Ken- Paper, tucky's member of tho dcmo- oratio national committee and for many years editor and proprietor of the Owensboro Messenger, lias purchased the Daily Democrat of Paducah, Kentucky, and will edit it in connection with the Messenger. Tho blue grass state is fortunate in having so able a man and bo loyal a demorcat in control of tho policy of two papers of such influence. They fur nish an antidote near a hand for the political poison which is being injected into the party by tho Courier-Journal. Good -Work in The Iroquois League of Cal- Californta. ifornia met at Bcnicia the other day and adopted rcsolii lutions, the first of which reads: "Resolved, That the Iroquois League of Cali fornia, at its thirteenth annual convention at Benicia, May 20, 1901, again reaffirm its allegiance to the principles of true democracy, as expressed In the platform adopted at Kansas City, July 4, 1900." Speeches were made by a number of delegates and great enthusiasm prevailed. Tub Com moner extends greetings to the members of the Iroquois League and urgeB its readers to give all possible encouragement to the organization. The democratic clubs which are being organ ized all over the country will be of great ser vice to the party in resisting the efforts of tho rcorgaiiizers to leacl' the party over to the prin eiplcV advocated by the enemy. All Labor Honorable. W. II. Councill, President of the Agricultural and Mechani cal College for Negroes at Normal, Alabama, recently delivered an ad dress in which ho said: "I came through the Richmond slave pen to this platform upon which I stand today. I do not regret the hard struggles of my life and the bitter experiences necessary to my growth, for, after all, adversity tests and develops man. "Whip idlers from among us, as the bee stings out the drone. Idlers produce crime and criminals. Wo must ask nothing but a chance to work and to be paid for our work. Envy no man. Take nothing from any man. Bveryhonest negro dray man, servant girl, washerwoman, mechanic, hotel boy, barber, who does his duty in an intelligent, competent, trus worthy manner, is a queen or prince among them. "No honest labor is dishonorable. It is more blessed to serve than to be served in any walk of life. The servant girl's hood and apron above an honest heart and educated brain are as honorable as the college cap and gown." This is good advice and a worthy sentiment. The 'white man as well as the black man might profit by Mr. Councill's suggestion. The apron of the laborer is, indeed, a badge of honor; and it would be well if every parent sought to im press upon tho child that nothing is more hon orable than honest toil. The Commoner. tary academy for "the good of the service and tho honor of tho military profession." Tho Now York Evening Post charges Adjutant General Corbin with false statements concern ing the trial of Captain Reed for commissary frauds. The Washington correspondent of tho Post says that General Corbin has admitted tho falsehood and excuses it on tho plea that ho was solicitous for the feelings of Captain Reed's relatives. Commenting upon these incidents, the Philadelphia North American says: "If it is not incumbent upon an 'officer and gentleman' to tell the truth) if men who wear tho stars are not to be held accountable for the honor of tho army, but may utter falsehoods and deny facts with impunity, it is grotesquely inconsistent to put disgrace upon boys who tell Jibs to get a holiday." i What is Fair? iv Grotesquely Inconsistent. Much ado has been made b the representatives of the W rtnnnWm.nf snnm.ln 4-1, cent escapade of cadets at West Point, anoa numoer 01 cadets wore expelled trom tho wmi A distinguished New Yorker in an interview recently said that "labor iB entitled to a fair wage but is not entitled to any more." A cor respondent of the New York Journal asks that paper if it could give an idea of what ' a fair wage is. "Is it 20 per cent or 40 per cent or 00 per cent or 80 per cent or 100 per cent of labor's production? Who is to be the judge of this matter? If less than 100 percent of labor's production belongs to labor, to whom does the rest belong and by what right?" The Journal replies that "if we define 'labor' as all the effort both of hand and of brain re quired to produce a given result, then labor under the existing social system is undoubtedly entitled to the bulk of the profit. It is not en titled to quite all the profit, for the person who furnishes the capital which is indispensable for important production has a right to a reasonable rate of interest and to compensation for any risk there may be in the enterprise." This is a very interesting question and a very interesting answer. But it is true that labor as defined by the Journal does not receive a fair proportion of its share of the profit. It cannot be denied that "labor is entitled to a fair wage and is not entitled to any more." But who has ever demanded more than a "fair wage" in behalf of labor? Is it not also true that capital is entitled to a fair return and to nothing more? And yet the man who in sists that labor be given its fair proportion, and who protests against capital taking an un fair proportion, is immediately branded as a disturber of social order and an enemy of tho public good. In Spite of At a dinner recently given in Mr. Conger' the City of New York, Mr. Endorsement. Conger, our Chinese Minister, delivered a speech in which he pleaded for a ship subsidy. "It is to be regretted," said Minister Con ger, "that some sort of a measure in aid of American shipping did not pass during the last congress. In my judgment this is not a political, but a patriotic measure and is de- ' ' 7 manded in order to meet the competition of shipping subsidized by other governments." Mr. Conger should avoid the bad example set by some of our representatives abroad, who, on returning homo, have undertaken to poso as experts in 'informing tho American, people as to their duty on public questions. Mr. Conger is in no better position than any other intelligent American to speak as to tho propriety of a shipping subsidy. Tho men behind tho iniquitous schemes which seek and usually find favor with this administration in variably attempt to brand the word "patriotic" on every one of their schemes. But the Amer ican people cannot bo deceived by tho claim that a proposition involving the taking of mil lions of dollars from the pockets of the peoplo and transferring them to the pockets of a few rich ship owners is a "patriotic" proposition. The proposition is not a patriotic one be cause it involves a gross injustice to the pub lic, and an unfair advantage to the would be beneficiaries. Tho question is a "political" one because the republican party accepted re sponsibility for this proposition and its repro 'sentativo men are exerting every effort to push the scheme to a successful conclusion. 'Of London's Level Headed Phrenologist. A London phrenologist re cently examined J. Picrpont Morgan, the great trust or- ' ganizer, and among otLor things -the phrenologist said of him: "Strip him of the glamour of successful money getting and there is no sort of character about him for contemplation which would make any man feel better." This is not necessarily a correct estimate of the great money magnate, although the reputa tion of this particular phrenologist, added to tho fact that his description is somewhat in keeping with tho estimate made by those who have had the opportunity to know Mr. Morgan well, gives character to the description. It is natural, too, that a man whose whole life has been devoted to the getting of money should have neglected the cultivation of other traits which contribute to character building in a, man. What an estimate this is to be placed upon one who would not like to have it thought that his life is a failure! And yet who can say that the man, who, apart from his powers of money getting possesses no sort of character that would command the admiration of men, can in deed write success on the final page of his life? The record of J. Picrpont Morgan in tho manipulation of stocks, in the organization of powerful business concerns, in the getting of money for himself and his associates, is almost unparalleled in the history of men; and yet we do not recall any instance where this man has contributed to the sum of human happiness in this world. The "glamor of successful money getting" has been his. In that glamour he has lived and in that glamour he will die. But un less he does something more than the mere ac cumulation of gold his life will not have avoided failure- f 3t