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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1901)
ipwTrr! 5 W . "Within .the leaning of ilio Ctretitutltn. Congressman Stevens of Minnesota, -who was conspicuous in the fight against the ship subsidy, ' - has-announced'that the -new bill important makes "important concessions to Concessions the -west." It is noticeable also to tho West." that a number of republican newspapers that opposed the i measure are now giving it cordial support. Demo crats who ojppoae .the bill insist that there is no improvement-in the -present? measure -.over that of v last .session-. .It 'is evident, "however,, that all--tho . iiifluenccf-of the'Hanna; andUhe Frye elements--in- - the republican .pariy will be exerted to push the ' bill 'through4 this -session. i "'- 7 :. Some .menibersof the house-of representatives insist that the Philippine revenue rlaw should originate in the house because the constitution provides that all bills for raising revenue shall have their origin in that body. Congressman Overstreet of Ind iana, however, is reported as saying that the Philippines bill may originate in the senate, as :t is "not .a revenue measure within the meaning of the "constitution." This expression, "within the meaning of the constitution," seems to be a very convenient one, and has often been used for the purpose of covering a multitude of sins. Concerning Mr. Roosevelt's reference to tho Monroe -doctrine, the London Chronicle says: ; "Whether the European nations Where the. Monroe are .likely to respect, this Ameri Doctrine is, can prohibition much longer Inconsistent. when the desirable .colonization ' grounds of the world are being- snapped up in a head-long race, mustdepend ulti mately upon the ability of the United States to enforce their prohibition.". It has i already - oc curred' to many thoughtful Americans that if the United .'States insists upon the right of "snapping up"r':the- desirable- and undesirable1 ''colozination grounds in all pa'rts of the world, they will have difficulty in defending, except through force, the United States authority on American' Soil-assumed by the Monroe doctrine. A Delaware reader of The Commoner meets the republican argument that prosperity is equally , distributed, by calling attention to the experience rof a friend of his who had .an opportunity to invest ten thousand dollars in national bank stock twenty .years ago, but instead of doing so invested in .Xarm land. The bank stock As now worth-three . . tlmes'iwhatrit- was worth: then, and. has -paid vover' l?..per cent'interest all, the time, -while thef arm can be -bought .for -eight thousand and in the meantime has not yielded nearly so large a profit as the . bank. This is not an uncommon illustration, but many farmers who have had a similar experience are- still willing to -allow the bankers, the trust magnates and the protected manufacturers to ihake the laws. vJudge Dunne of Chicago released the 'manag ing editor and. the writers for the Chicago Ameri can who were arraigned before Good WorJtfnjj Judge Hanecy on the charge of of the contempt of court. The American Chicago American, jcommented quite severely on the decision rendered by Judge Hanecy in favor, of a, corporation. The judge look, the ground that .because his decision had not been formally entered in the record, the general law regarding contempt was applicable, and that the American's editors were amenable to that law. 'Judge Dunne, however, while admitting the right oi a court to punish for contempt before the de- . clsion has been reached,' held that freedom of sp'ee'ch and freedom of the resa were involved..! " L.the cas befor him aad that ho more effective way Not. an Uncommon Illustration." 3he Commoner;. . . ,. of suppressing these liberties could be conceived than that contended for by Judge Hanecy. "There is no good reason," said Judge Dunne, "why a judge should have a law applied to him that does not apply to a president, a governor, or a mem ber of the legislature." Judge Dunne pointed out that Judge Hanecy's remedy lay in tho law of libel. Unquestionably Judge Dunne's action will have the approval of people generally. It will not do to -give to the man on the' bench the powers and the authority of- a tyrant. It will not do to discour age newspapers 'from making, dignified criticism of-public acts in the public interest. It is well that in this instance the newspaper called to account was amply able to defend,. not -only- itself, -but the important 'privileges of free speech and a free press. It is said that Sir Thomas Wemyss Reld, in an article Jn an 'English publication entitled, "The Nineteenth Century and After," On will quote "a distinguished mem- Which her of the American cabinet" as We? saying, "I do not think you In England realize the depth of feeling that exists outside of your own country on the subject of the South African war, nor the ex treme gravity of the sentiment which that feel ing has brought Into existence I am not sneak ing of the American feeling, which is largely on your side, but the more friendly we are to Eng land the more anxious we are to see you extricated from -the meshes of the net in which you are now caught." What right lias an American cabinet " officer to say that American feeling is largely on . the English side? No -republican convention has aid so. Do the republicans construe the .last election to have been a declaration against the Boers?" "Out of the statistical and technical- aridnss of the secretary of the treasury's report'' the New York World has produced these facts of Jiving interest: The .government taxed the people last year $699,516,530 which is $351,G94,G25 more than its re ceipts for the last fiscal year before the Spanish war, 1897. It spent $G21,598;54G which is $255, 824,387 more than it spent in 1897. If taxation weie the samp now as it was four years ago, and the expenditures had increased to their present figures, iustead of reporting a surplus of $77,000,000 the secretary of the treasury would have to report a deficit of $273,870,641. If expenditures were the sama as before our colonial experiments and taxation- were: up. to its present -height,- the report would ihave- been of a .surplus of no less than' $333,522,371. - No wonder President Roosevelt speaks of the Philippines as "a great burden," A Grcat.Burden Facts of Interest. rvrvv which tho trust was enabled to do its worst would be removed. The question that occurs to tho thinking man is, If Mr. Babcock's plan can only bo determined accurately by triaf, why not give it a trial? And if it was of advantage to nowspaper publishers to have tho tariff removed as a pro tection against the exactions of the paper trust, why would it not be advantageous to the general public to roviso all tariff schedules so that they would not give to true:, which send their .prod- ucts abroad at prices much 'lower than those they . exact at homo, a degree of protection which they have been abusing for years. ! . The Chicago Tribune warns Congressman Fab cock to let 'the tariff alone. The Tribune says: "It Is the wish of Representative Why not Babcock to revise the iron and Give the steel schedule so that it shall not Plan n Trial. give to trusts, which sell their products abroad at prices much lower than those they exact at home, a degree of protection which they are abusing. Whether such a lowering or removal of duties as Mr. Babcock has in mind would give to American consumers of trust-made goods the lower prices he thinks should be charged can be determined accurately only by trial." Then the Tribune plainly shows that it 13 indisposed to rjVermit the trial to be had. It declares, "There is no good reason for such an Undertaking at this time." It will be remembered that less than eighteen months ago, when news paper publishers were groaning because of the ex actions of the paper trust, the Tribune was one of the" number of republican papers tliat served no tice -upon the)trustthat'tmles3 Wi&X organization abandoned its policy of- exaction the- tariff by- One of the democratic papers of Minnesota criticises -The Commoner's editorial which recently appeared under tho head "A a Bit Democratic Duty." The reason of , given for objecting to the odi- inconsistcncy. toricl was that imperialism was the paramount issue in the last campaign, that the republicans being successful the democrats should now proceed to indorse tho imperialistic policy. It is rather a strange coin cidence that on tho same page of that paper ap pears a magazine article under big black head lines, suggesting that we appeal to England to stop slaughtering another Christian nation in South Africa. How inconsistent to commend Imperial ism in the Philippines and then condemn It in South Africa! If a newspaper is going to indorse a war of conquest .when waged by- the United States and protest against it when waged by .England,. the articles ought to appear in different Issues, of tho paper so that the inconsistency would not be so apparent. &&& The Commoner is indebted to the Jefferson County (Neb.) Journal and to a number of other v , t papers for. very kind editorial interest of mention. The Journal calls. at- ihe Weekly tention to the fact that the sub- Pres$. scriptions of those who began with the first number of Tbe Commoner will soon expire, and says: "We hope to see every subscriber to The Commoner renew his subscription this winter, and many more added to the list." The editor of The Commoner haz not felt that it would be proper to publish the complimentary notices that have appeared in other papers or the generous commendation con tained in the multitude of letters received. This 's only published as a sample of- the friendly interest shown by the weekly press, and the occasion 's used to assure tho editors of the weekly papers that he is gratoful for the cordial support they have given to The Commoner. The Commoner, is not a rival of the local weeklies; itdesiresjp sup plement their work by giving more space-to na tional pojitlcs than they with., their state, county and town problems can posribly do. SCyO The supreme court of Missouri has delivered an opinion In which it finds that the Western Union Telegraph company, be Miseourl Corpora- lng organized under the law of lions flust Help New York, is not a federal cor ner the Harder, poration and that the assess ment of the company's fran chise by the Missouri, state board of equalization is binding. The result of this decision, it is said, will require the Telegraph company to pay to the Missouri counties an aggregate of $250,000 in taxes. It is strange that corporations enjoying as many favors as they do at the expense of the pub lic, are so zealous in avoiding their just share of the hurden of taxation. It is very evident, how ever, Irom things that are happening in various sections of the. country, that individual taxpayers generally are becoming quite determined that cor porations shall no longer escape their share of taxation. The solution of the direct tax problem will be more, nearly reached when corporations are required to pay taxes on the same basis that is required of individuals, and there does not ap pear,, in common sense- or justice, -tobe any good f eaeon why the' individual should carry theTafger share of the load'.' : '
