"f.-V
The Commoner.
can leaders will re-read the speeches that they
made against free coinage; if they rememher what
diro things they predicted would follow free coin
age, they will get some, idea of the unspeakable
disaster, tho indescribable horror, according to the
Sun, that would follow the suppression of all
trusts. If the republican leaders are determined
to suppress the trusts they had better begin at
once, before the great republican dailies ha70
time to scare them from their purpose. The demo
crats are interested in suppressing the trusts, and
they are willing to risk all the calamaties .that aro
prophesied as a result of anti-trust legislation.
But the republicans are more timid, and 'the only
safe plan is for them to avoid such papers as the
Sun. Possibly tho anti-anarchy laws might be
made broad enough to suppress the Sun, for cer
tainly the Sun is expressing, in advance, contempt
for officials who would be guilty of suppressing the
trusts, and might not its terrible warnings excite
some trust magnate to deeds of violence in case
hostile legislation is attempted against private
monopolies? Tho Commoner has on a former
occasion referred to the Sun's prophecy, but it is
so awful to contemplate that it deserves a second
mention.
JJJ
The Tariff on Hides.
Frank Pingree of Detroit, in an interview in the
Evening News of that city, says that the National
Boot and Shoe Manufacturers association will at
tempt to secure the removal of the tariff from
hides. The explanation which he gives of the
levying of the tariff and the charge which ho
makes againBt the big packers will bo of interest
to the readers of The Commoner. He says:'
Never in the history of the leather indus
try havo hides been so high. Sole leather at
30 cents a pound may any day go to 40 or 45
cents, when the trust secures all it wants.
Practically the hides of this country are con
trolled by four men in Chicago. There is a
story told in tho trade which I am not in a
position to Verify, but it is generally believed,
that these four -men, when McKinley first ran,
agreed to raise $250,000 for campaign expenses,
provided they had a tariff placed on hides.
The shoe industry made a bitter but unsuc
cessful fight, kept committees in Washington
all winter, but the desired legislation for the
trust went through; and since then shoe
makers have suffered more and more, until tho
condition has become almost intolerable.
The shoe pinches right here: The tanners
of this country reship imported hides and get
a rebate on the duty. Actually, government is
behind on expense account and no one is ben
efited, except tho four men who control the
hides. Heretofore, hides have come in as raw
material. It is base injustice to our people
that this pernicious legislation continues.
Actually tanners import hides, put all the
labor on them, reship to foreign countries and
sell for a less price than our own people can
secure American hides.
JJJ
Markham's Poetry.
On another page will bo found Markham's tri
bute to Abraham Lincoln. It is reproduced not
only because of the subject, but also because of
the poet's treatment of the subject. Markham to
a remarkable degree possesses the poetic faculty of
embalming a beautiful sentiment in beautiful lan
guage, so that his words linger In the memory.
The poem presented today, like Gray's Elegy,
idealizes the homely and familiar things that are
a part of the existence of all. He ennobles Lincoln
by making him one of the common people and by
exalting the real elements of his greatness. -
Yhero can we find such a collection of beauti
ful and appropriate similies?
The rectitude and patience of the rocks;
The gladness of the wind that shakes the corn;
The courage of the bird that dares the sea;
The justice of the rain that loves all leaves;
The pity of the snow that hides all scars;
The loving kindness of the wayside well;
The tolerance and equity of light.
Here are seven lines, each setting forth a vir
tue that would Immortalize a man and all, like the
parables, are suggested by tho every-day things of
life.
It is a raro gift to bo ablo to see tho thinga
around us, a rarer gift to be ablo to utilize them
in speech or prose, and a still rarer gift to bo able
to clothe them in the resplendent languago of
poesy. Markham has an equipment of head and
heart that fits him to portray a character that
could combine rectitude, patience, gladness, cour
age, equity, tolerance, pity and loving kindness.
JJJ
"Let us Fight England Alone."
Rev. Herman Van Broekhuizen, chaplain of
the Transvaal Volksraad, delivered an address in
Grace Reformed church, Washington City, recent
ly. Mr. Van Broekhuizen described tho camps
where the Boer women and children are impris
oned, and likened the inhumanities of those camps
to tho cruelties of Herod. In replying to tho
query, "Why don't the Boers stop fighting?" he
declared, "Because we have nothing left but our
independence to fight for."
After eloquently presenting the Boer cause,
Mr, Van Broekhuizen said:
"All that wo ask of America is that she
remain neutral. Keep your horses and mules
at home. Let us fight England alone. Tho
future of South Africa is not in the. hands of
America or any other country, but in the hands
of God."
Is this too large a request for two republics
fighting for constitutional government to make of
the greatest of all republics?
"All we ask of America is that she remain
neutral. Keep your horses and mules at home.
Let us fight England alone." They havo no La
fayette to help them as .our forefathers were
helped, nor do they ask for actual aid; they simply
ask that in the contest between an empire and a
republic, the greatest republic on tho earth re
' main neutral.
A New Orleans court decided that the question
whether horses and mules could be exported from
this country for the benefit of the British in South '
Africa was a question for the administration to
decide, and the injunction asked on this point was
denied by the court. What will the administra
tion do about it? What course will Mr. Roose
velt take concerning the appeal that the United
States became neutral on the South African war?
We have not been neutral in the past. While
it is true the sympathies of the American people
have largely been with the South Africans, it is
-also true that whatever benefit and advantage
Great Britain could obtain in this country has
been obtained and the course of our official repre
sentatives has been distinctly favorable to the em
pire as against the republic.
Is it not fair that we keep our horses and
mules at home? Is it not time that we let "Eng
land fight alone its battle of imperialism, its war
of conquest in South Africa?
JJJ
Hewitt on SelfGovernment.
Abram S. Hewitt of New York will be well re
membered as one of the democrats who had so high
a sense of "national honor" that they could not
support the democratic national ticket in 1896
and in 1900. In the recent municipal campaign in
New York city Mr. Hewitt opposed the democratic
candidate, Mr. Shepherd. In an open letter Mr.
Hewitt said:
If Shepherd thinks that universal suffrage
is the best form of government for large ag
gregations of men, he differs with most states
men and the best thinkers of the day. They
all agree that municipal government is a mat
ter of business and not of general politics.
They think that ignorance should be excluded
from control and that the city business should
be carried on by trained experts selected upon
some other principle than popular suffrage.
In this view I concur.
Commenting upon Mr. Hewitt's letter, Mr.
Shepherd said:
I- profoundly differ with him. I bellevo
that in morality, In far-seeking wisdom, and In
a practical regard to tho welfare of tho gov
erned, you can better trust tho great masses
o" men' than you can any class, no matter how '
select that class may be.
Mr. Shepherd stated the truth In a nutshell,
Mr. Hewitt and men of his class oppose the demo
cratic party on tho pretense that they object to
bimetallism, but whenever opportunity offers they
show that they aro antagonistic to democratic
principles generally. Mr. Hewitt was ono of tho
men who claimed a patent right on tho title of
"democrat," in spito of the fact that he opposed
the democratic national ticket and yet this "su
perior democrat" calmly assures us that public
business should bo caried on by trained experts,
selected upon some other principle than popular
suffrage, and that tho men who think that uni
versal suffrage is tho best form of government for
large aggregations of men "differs with the best
thinkers of the day." It Is difficult to understand
vith what reason Mr. Howitt lays claim to tho
title of "democrat." Mr. Shepherd uttered a sim
ple truth when ho said: "You can better trust
the great masses of men than you can any class,
no matter how select that class may be."
JJJ '
A Word as to Gifts.
The time Is approaching when the Christian
world indulges In that most delightful of luxuries
-giving. There is a philosophy In the Biblical
doctrine that it is more blessed to give than to
receive, for however much wo enjoy tho gifts that
come to us, we enjoy still more the gifts which wo
make, if they are made In the proper spirit. Ho
who gives becomes a creditor, ho who receives be
comes a debtor, and it Is always better to lay up
capital than to incur obligations.
There aro two rules which ought to be ob
served: First, the gift should be an appropriate
one. It must not only be suited to the needs of
the recipient, but In expense it ought not to bo
out of proportion to the mpans of tho donor. It
mars the pleasure of receiving to know that tho
gift was a more expensive one than tho donor could
woll afford to give. Second, the gift should bo use
ful, and if possible of permanent value. Tho toy
of a child gives but a fleeting pleasure even be
fore Christmas day closes it is often battered and
broken. Tho parent is always glad when the child
reaches an age at which it will appreciate sorao
thing more lasting.
Gifts to those who cannot repay except In
gratitude are better than gifts bestowed with a
hope of return t ith interest. On another page will
be found an article calling attention to a few
books which have been advertised in The Com
moner. Tho editor has advertised these books be
cause he believes them to be books of merit, and
ho has felt that in advertising them he has been
doing a service to the readers as well as con
ferring a favor upon the publisher.
And while on the subject of gifts it may not bo
out of place to suggest that gifts should not bo
bestowed upon those who are in official position,
for even when they do not suggest an ulterior mo
tive on the part of the donor, they embarrass tho
recipient. A faithful public servant receives a two
fold reward; his pecuniary compensation satisfies
any legal obligations he may have against tho
community, and the gratitude and appreciation of
his constituents fully settle his account with
them. Jefferson made it a rule, while he wa3
president, to refuse gifts of pecuniary value, and
on one occasion in declining to accept a present
justified himself as follows:
"On coming into public office I laid it down
as a lav of my conduct, while I should con
tinue in it, not to accept any present of any
pecuniary value. A pamphlet, a new book, or
ah article of curiosity, have produced no hesi
tation, because below suspicion, but things of
sensible value, however innocently offered in
the first examples, may grow at length into
abuse for which I wish not to furnish a pre
cedent. Tho kindness of the motives which
lead to this manifestation of your esteem,
sufficiently assures me that you will approve
of my desire, by a perseverance in the rule,
to retain that consciousness of a disinterested
administration of public trust, which is es
sential to perfect tranquility of mind."
On this question, as on other questions relat
ing to official conduct, Jefferson was eminently,
sound.
