The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, October 11, 1901, Page 3, Image 3
The Commoner. 3 to exact excessive prices for the necessaries ptltfai la in many cases entirely unwarranted. ..,,,.. The motto o all should be to live1, and let(. live: and the retail dealers should bVar in mind that there is a limit to the incomes' of their cus tomers. Men who own their own houses and have large incomes can stand the raise uncom plainingly; hut day laborers, mechanics, and men having small salaries and large families are being hard pressed to, meet the continuing increase in the cost of living. These conditions should be taken into consid eration by the various organizations and com binations that control and regulate prices. The above appeared as an editorial in the Omaha Bee, Nebraska's leading Republican paper. . In the first place, retail dealers under the present trust system, established and encouraged by Republican policies, are merely agents for the trusts. When the retail price is raised on coal, meat and manufactured provisions, the trust is largely responsible for the increase. The Bee lays down an excellent motto, " to live and lot live," and it well describes the enor mous burden that must fall upon the laborers, mechanics, and other men having small salaries as a result of thid enormous increase in the price of the necessaries of life. How would this Republican organ remedy this unhappy condition? As easy as falling off a log. Listen! "These conditions," says the Bee, "should bo taken into consideration by the various organizations and combinations that control and regulate prices." In other words, after the Republican party has permitted trusts to organize and to multiply as they never or ganized and niuftiplied before, after the Repub; lican leaders one by one have lined up in defense of the trust system; after the Republi can party has failed to even enforce existing laws against that evil after all this Nebraska's Republican organ proposes to remedy the evil by moral suasion. Moral suasion, indeed! Moral suasion upon a combination of men who know that they must strike while the iron is hot if they would become multi-millionaires; that they must take advantage of the license given them by the Republican party to "control and regulate prices." What an inspiring spectacle is this! Here we have a Republican organ pointing out, in pathetic words, the evils which the trust system has imposed upon the people of this country. Does it say to the Republican leaders: this license, giving a band of men authority to go upon the highways and byways and do their -worst, must be destroyed? Does it say to the Republican party: your partiality for the trusts is bringing the laborers and mechanics of this, country to the verge of distreos; you must re verse your-position -and show some considera tion for the people? Does it serve notice upon the trust magnates that even the republican party dare not be responsible for the imposi tions that are being practiced upon the people? By no means! It pleads with the trust mag nates that they deal gently with their patron. It pleads with the trust magnates that they do not ta"ke the bread out of the mouths of tho children of the poor. It says to these trust magnates, in effect if not in words: to bo surej iyou have been given a" license to do yourf worst; as tho beneficiaries of republican policies ' you have the power to say what tho people shall pay for the necessaries of life, but wont yon be kind enough, dear; good Trust Magnates, to consider the conditions?" According to this republican organ, day laborers, mcohanics and men having small sal aries and large families arc being hard pressed tomeet the ever continuing increase in the cost of living. Although this organ knows -that the power of tho trust would bo gone if tho tc publican party was determined to destroy that power, it has no word of condemnation for the license given these organizations and combina tions, but it hopes, by pathetic appeal, to hearts of stone, to persuade the trust magnates to take these serious conditions into consideration. The idea of giving to a coterie of men tho power by which they may control and regulate prices upon the necessaries of life a power given to them in return- for political campaign contributions and then expecting those men to listen to an appeal based upon humanity and justice! A more absurd proposition never crept into the columns of a daily newspaper. "These .conditions," says this republican organ, "should be taken into consideration by. tho various organizations and combinations that control and regulate prices." This is tho t'ouching appeal that goes from this republican source to the beneficiaries of the republican trust system. And the only answers to tho blunt appeal are the sneers of a defrauded peo ple ,because,.of the. absurdity of the request, and the mocking laugh of the trust magnates be cause of the suggestion that they surrender any of the power which they purchased of the re publican party. Easily Answered. One of the readers of the Chicago Chronicle calls attention "to an editorial which appeared in that paper reading as follows: Mr. Bryan rises to remark: "I am not willing to concede that the Cleveland element can obtain control of the democratic party." The Cleveland element carried two presidential elections for the democratic party, which were the only national democratic victories since the war. The Bryan element led the democratic party to defeat in two presidential elections and would lead It "to another if it should have the lead. The Cleveland ele ment hasdone much better than the Bryan ele ment while in control of the democratic party, The reader then asks the Chronicle the fol lowing question: "Now suppose the Cleveland element should be successful in nominating one of their men in 1904 and the Bryan element should vote for- the Republican candidate or not vote at all, as the Cleveland element did in 1890 and 1900, how many counties in the United States will the Cleveland element carry?" This question is very easily answered by the gold Democrats. They assume that every believer in Democratic principles would vote for any candidate nominated by the gold and corporation element of the party, even though the gold and corporation element would not vote for a believer in the Kansas City platform. The gold Democrats are very- one-sided in their logic. Party tics arc binding on all exccpliemsolvcfl. It is a significant fact ' that tho Chronicle did not mention the campaign of 1894 when the party under the Cleveland leadership met a worse defeat than it did in 1890 or 1900. Favoring the Influential. Two officials of tho wrecked Seventh Na tional Bank of New York were indicted by 'the grand jury, but they wore not arrested until nearly two weeks after the indictment was re turned. Tho United States' assistant attorney explains tho delay in these words: "To subject these gentlemen, who are reput ablo business men, to confinement in prison from Septembor 11 until tho return of a United States judge to the city who could accept ball, would bo a hardship and unfair in view of the fact that there was no likelihood of their trying to evado answering tho indictments." Can men who do things which a grand jury believes to be deserving of indictment be said to be "reputablo buHiness men?" Even if in this instance, these men were "reputablo busi ness men" why should they be given more con sideration, after a grand jury has preferred' serious charges against them, than the hum blest citizen in the land? What reason had this United States' attor- ney for assuming, that "there is no likelihood of their trying to evade answoring tho indict ment?" Was it because the evidence was not siif ficient to convict? Then why did tho grand jury indict? Was it because these- '.'reputable business men'' depended upon the good' fortuno of influ ential men accused of crime to escape respon sibility for their lawlessness? It is true that in many instances the author ities are altogether too solicitous lest a "hard ship" should be imposed upon influential wrong doers but, do these wrong-doers ever stop to consider the hardships they might be imposing upon tho men and women who trusted their savings to them? An Expressive Cartoon. The Chicago American recently contained a cartoon which was so strong and impressive that it was secured and, by the courtesy of Mr. Hearst, is reproduced on another page of this issue. It is from the pen of Mr. Briggs, a former Nebraskan, and presents more clearly than words could the direct connection between ignorance and vice. The American charges that the present shortage in school funds is due to 'the tax dodgers and quotes from Hon. Frank J. Loosen a member of the Board of Education, to show the extent of the falling off in the school ap- propri.ation. Mr. Loesch says: "We'll have to close the schools for part of tho year, if Mr. Frost's figures on our Income are not wrong. I -hope there is some" mistake. It doesn't seem possible that the public schools in a city like Chicago can he so juggled with. The council allowed us an appropriation of $7,463,000 for the coming year. Acording to Mr. Frost's figures wa will have to get along with a net income or $4, 860,000 a direct cut of almost 30 per cent. "No amount of scrimping or saving will make up such a tremendous deficiency. In 1900, when we were short only $600,000, we had to cut teach ers' salaries to a bare living wage, close the high school for 'a 'fortnight and the primary1 schools for one week." - it UL