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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1902)
The Commoner. it. RV .-. 3r'v 8 . f i mmm 11 ' ' ' "f I FORUM OF THE WEEKLY PRESS . "j "T' & fr . ' ftc, Manhattan (Kas.) Mercury: When the line-up comes again in 1904 the trusts will be able to reach the Chicago Tribune or ostracize it. Sycamore (111.) .Broadside: You can't down tho trusts by voting as the "captains of industry" do. Gunnison (Colo.) News: A new Jer sey man has discovered mosquitos that multiply in tho winter. Great breed ing place for pests, New Jersey. , Lawrenceville (Ga.) News-Herald: The United States and Great Britain continue to spread civilization by shooting those who -wish to rule them selves. Rathdrum (Id.) Silver Blade: The benevolent assimilation of the "merger" by the republican party is likely to cause the people "to merge with .the democracy. Eed Wing (Minn.) Argus: ' Only we can't understand why Mr. Hill instead of welcoming the legal test of North ern Securities should employ arts, agents, money and ridicule to' head it off. Hill City (Kas.) Reveille: ,- Secretary Root is out with-the declaration that "a state of war" e.xistsjjn the Philip pines. My, but we bought the war was--over Thousands of pedple have been fooled by the politicians. sells in the United States while the American producer can sell in his market by paying $17 per ton. Wahpeton (N. D.) Times: Senator Frye's ship subsidy bill provides that one-fourth of a subsidized ship's crew shall be American. Of course, Sena tor Frye knows that the wages of tha other three-fourths will fix the wages of the American fourth, but ho is not saying anything about that. Meadville (Pa.) Farmer: When we robuked Weylerlsm in Cuba, we as Americans might have sent such an appeal to any nation on earth engaged in the same-unmitigated cruelty, but, alas, we have fallen to the same level, and cannot loolc the world in the face and rebuke anybody for anything. Florence (Colo.) Ex Parte: Whether or not Attorney General Knox pledged himself to fight the trusts before the senate would confirm his appointment is of no consequence to tho country. He is a friend to the trusts, and to pledge him to fight 'themas well pledge a calf to fight its. mother.. Mount Holly (N. J.) Democrat: It is unfortunate that the national gov ernment will be made )ie fighting ground of the two aspirants for presi dential honors. Payne's appointment can mean nothing else. Hist chief function in Washington must necessar ily be the forwarding of Roosevelt's Seneca (Kas.) Courier-Democrat When run down, rumors In regard to political Interests. Dillon (Mont.) Examiner: the reorganization of the democratic party are generally found ,,to have originated with .men who voted the republican ticket in 1900. Hemingford (Nebf) Herald; There can be. no doubt about the American ism of the Boonville, Mo., farmer who refused 'to sell his mules at a good price when he learned that they were wanted for service against the Boers. "Lexington (N. C.) Dispatch:" That element in the democratic party which wants to run the. party according to suggestions of republicans will never succeed in this undertaking. The great army of conscientious democrats will be slow to follow such leadership. Millheim (Pa.) Journal: President Roosevelt says "the soup house style of philanthropy Is worse than use less.". Very good, but how about the soup house style of ship-subsidizing? Rapid City (S. D.) Union: If Gov ernor "Van Sant of Minnesota accom plishes anything in his fight against the big railroad-pool it will show that he is a better republican than the average, and by rights- ought to bo a demp'crat. Olath'e (Kas.) Tribune: The ship subsidy job" has -had a few of its ugly spots covered up, but it is the samo old steal in principle, and its oppo nents in congress will be excusable for resorting to any sort of tactics to prevent it getting through. Leavenworth (Ind.) Register: By the provisions of the Philippine tariff bill the Philippine producer will have lo pay $3G per ton on all the sugar he Senator Hanna said recently, "We are build ing a magnificent navy and shall con tinue until we are second to'no nation. We should also build something for this navy to- defend." His logic re minds us of the woman who bought a side saddle -at an auction because she "might some day own a horse." Georgetown (Tex.) Commercial r There .is an attempt to "reorganize" the democratic party on the lines of the democratic platform in 1892 and the republican platform of 1896. But will the people who have maintained democratic principles' in the past agree to this? It is not believed they will indorse such a disastrous and danger ous policy. Boulder (Colo.) Representative: Even republicans who opposed the free coinage of silver on the grounds that it would give us -too much money are now willing to concede that by in creasing the volume of money in the past five years nearly six hundred million dollars, tho country is exper iencing much better times. And strange to N say the fifty-cent dollar does not scare tho people, Preston (Minn.) National Repub lican: Why was Governor Shaw se lected by .the bankers' trust for sec retary of the treasury? Because of his well known views on the money question. He says the nation can have but pne standard coin; that ev ery piece of money and whatever cir culates as money must be redeemed in standard coin; that the present bank- ing system is the best ever doviaed; that he favors an elastic currency to be furnished by the banks and issued on the basis of their assets. This would make the American bankers' associa tion supreme and the nation subordi nate in. all financial matters. To se cure such an advantage elections are controlled by bribery. If you like it, take your swag and vote the rascals in. Clinton (Pa.) Democrat: The pro tectionist tools of the trusts in tho present congress may succeed in pre venting tariff reduction by throwing down the .gage of battle to the revision ists, and using the power of the trusts to disarm' or utterly crush them, but this prevention will he temporary in deed. The congressional elections of 1902 are destined to be disastrous to the syndicates and to syndicate hench men In the national congress. Tariff revision, coupled with the trust issue proper, is an exceedingly vital Issue. American sentiment demands the re duction of the tariff and the restriction of the trusts under competent govern mental supervision. Blassburg (Pa.) Advertiser: One hundred and twenty-five years after the Declaration of Independence was made by the thirteen colonies against Great Britain and denying the right of Great Britain to tax the colonies without giving them representation we find the same colonies now a great power, enforoing the same doctrine upon the Porto Ricans and Philippines as the British government attempted to fasten upon the colonies one hun dred and twenty-five years ago. The taxing without representation did not succeed then, neither will it now. A greater outrage has never been at tempted by the American people, and the party which is responsible for such an outrage will"yet have to answer for It to the liberty-loving people of this country. Massena (N. Y.) Forum: In the New York World last week, for in stance, appears on tno nrst page a picture of the sort of prosperity their imaginations rovel in. A row of Santa Claus stockings bulging with good things and labeled "All Full" is be ing smiled at by Uncle Samuel. Th filling of the stockings is labeled "Pros perity." On the next page is a picture of "Dinner for Homeless Men," in which long rows of intelligent-looking men of all ages are seated at tabled eating what was probably tho only full meal they will get until another Christmas.- There were 1,200 of them, it is said. They are described as be ing "poor and homeless and out of work a long time." If the first of those pic tures is true, the second is a He. In asmuch as the first is a product of the imagination of some artist and the second is tho record of the camera, it needs no peculiar wit to see which picture is honest and which a pluto cratic falsehood. But the lie is given the place of honor the first page while the truth is compelled to lag a page behind. Fairfield (111.) Sun: Men who talk about harmonizing labor and capital either ignorantly or intentionally omit to say that what they are really try ing to do Is to harmonize labor, capital and monopoly, something which can never bo done. What they fail or do not want, to see is that monopoly the power by legislation to capitalize a privilege is not capital and is tho great disturbing factor in the indus trial world causing all the trouble. : -i. Time Lost. "I read the estimate prepared re cently by the British government w'ith. reference to longevity among men in the army,' said a gentleman recently who Is fond of mathematics, "and I do not care how much men may figuro on the lengthening of life's average thefact is, a fellow doesn't live so lone; af teralL - Life Is very short when wa come to think of it. It is, indeed, a fitful fever, to borrow the simile of the poet, and the distance between the cradle and the tomb is the span of one's hand. How much of a man's life is devoted to the actual work of ac complishing whatever his highest aim may be? Did you ever think about figuring on this problem? J havev be cause, I guess, I happen to have a penchant for mathematics. But it is, Interesting for other reasons. OZ,', course, a fellow does n'pthing until af-. ter his 21st birthday. He must attain"' his majority before he enters upon the serious duties of life. Before' this time he is passing the preparatory stages of life, and, theoretically, Ja. eqipping himself for its serious bat tles. Fifty years is the life of the av 'eratrG man. although life's erenp.rn.1 av erage figures down to a point mucn below this. 0 Y "Give the average man 30 years iSe- , yond the period when he becomes of age. I guess it would be 6afe to as sume, even in this rushing, age, that the uyerage man will spend one hour and 30 minutes in eating, allowing, for the time it takes him to go to anil from his meals and in preparing for the taole. We might safely figure that he spends an average of one hour and 30 minutes out of every 24 in other minor ways in exchanging pleasan tries with his friends and chatting on topics unrelated to his business, in winding his watch and in other indul-' gences of an innocent and harmless kind. Then, sleep will probably con sume six hours, speaking conserva tively. This would make a total of nine hours out of every 24 that a man. spends in doing things that are un related, In a strict sense, to his busi ness. This amounts to three-eighthil of the life that is before him. He has 30 years in which to do his work. He would devoto 11 years and three months to sleep and to other things, as indicated, and would have 19 years and nine months in which to do his little do. "Twenty years look like a good bit of time., but when we come to this fearful thing of living for a purpose", expecting to endear ourselves to our countrymen and to accumulate a lit tle money besides, the time does not seem long. The time Is really much shorter than this when we allow for Sundays and social gatherings ' 'and prayer meetings and things of that sort, but as these functions do not -figure in every man's life I have left the in out," Philadelphia Inquirer. " 5t ) m