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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-
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