C:
rr
3
passive attitude. Great Britain was at
loosed to sign the proposed note, but after
lential report from Washington, declined
to sign such a note as the Austrian ambassa-
mosed. or to take any further steps. After-
Austria and France made direct offers of
mtion, but ceased their efforts after the
ition of war.
may accept as true the interpretation which
British ministry seems desirous of putting
jtfiis situation, and one may be truly thank-
any friendly disposition manifested toward
Jnited States by Great Britain; but even if
Britain were more friendly than she really
ren though her friendship were more sincere
disinterested than we have the right to believe
be, the fact could not persuade the American
lie that it was their duty to transfer thoir sym
iy in the South African war from the republic
'the empire. The American people will hope
it we may always be on good terms with Great
itain, but not at the expense of our natural sym-
ithies. our Durest sentiments, and our best tra-
t?i.
Bions.
JJJ
A Visit to the East.
The editor of The Commoner has just re-
irned from a three weeks' trip through the east.
Fearly a week of the time was spent in Pennsyl
vania, three days were devoted to Massachusetts,
two to Connecticut, two to Michigan, and one
iach to Wisconsin and Ohio. Ho celebrated Jack
ton's Day at Wooster, O., and New Haven, Conn.
it Boston he discussed "The Patriot in Peace" at
non-partisan banquet, and at Cambridge he deliv
ered before the students of Harvard university his
lecture on "A Conquering .Nation." The lecture
ms also delivered in the following college towns:
flVIadison, Wis., Albion and Hillsdale, Mich., and
MWaynesburg and Washington, Pa.
k The republican naners have treated him more
i - -
courteously on this trip than on former pcca-
sions and their generosity is appreciated. Some
jpf them, however, have critisiced him for lecturing
at meetings where an admission is charged. The
r State, of Columbia, S. C, thus justifies lecturing as
a means of reaching the public:
Mr. Bryan has been on another trip to New
.England. In the 189G campaign he referred to
that bleak soil as "the enemy's country," but
since then his receptions there have b.een so
warm and cordial that Mr. Bryan must now
feel quite at home among the Puritans.
On his last trip he met with the greatest
cordiality from public men and the masses.
His speeches were numerous, several being
"Jackson's Day" orations at public dinners,
others were lectures to which admission was
charged and one being an address before the
Harvard students. Yet persons there and else
where have been speculating concerning Mr.
Bryan's motive in taking the tour, assigning it
to a desire to parade himself as a presidential
candidate or to an egotistical craving to keep
himself in the public eye. Mr. Bryan's word on
this subject is as good as any one else's opin
ion, and he stated in one of his speeches what
he has said before that his life .would be de
voted to the discussion of public questions.
This ought to be explanation enough.
Mr. Bryan evidently regards such lecturing
tours as supplementary to the work he is do
ing in The Commoner the dissemination and
enforcement of democratic principles. It is
surely an honorable and honest vocation. That
It Is likewise a means of support is not discred
itable. If Mr. Bryan were wealthy we do not
j;,doubt he would circulate The Commoner free
and talk for nothing, but he has to earn his ,
daily bread like the most of us, and since the
people want to read what he writes and hear '
what he says there is no reason why he should
not charge for his paper and his speeches. If
The Commoner is worth anything it is worth
$1.00 per year, and if a lecture by Mr. Bryan is
worth paying for at all it it worth 50 cents or
$1.00 per person the price of admission to a
baseball game. As a matter of fact the admis
sion to the paid lectures Mr. Bryan gave in
New England was 25 and 50 cents; it could
Mrdly have been less.
MY Bryan has stated through The Commoner
Ind ()n the platform that he intends to devote his
The Commoner
life to the study and discussion of public ques
tions. The newspaper and the platform furnish
the best" opportunities for reaching the people.
Tho paper is within the means of all who desiro
to read it and reaches a larger number than can
be reached by lectures. And yet there aro many
who attend a meeting who would not subscribe
for the paper, and "a lecture affords a better means
than a campaign speech for the calm consideration
of the principles of government. Editorial work
and lecturing go well together, the former furnish
ing material that can be utilized in a speech while
an audience supplies an inspiration that is lacking
in the editorial sanctum. Both writing and speak
ing furnish such agreeable occupation that ono
does not notice the loss of a little thing like the
presidency.
'JJJ
Pinching Wool Growers.
Mr. A. J. Blakely of Grinnell, In., wrote the
following letter in reply to an inquiry addressed
to him by the American Wool and Cotton Re
porter. The letter is reproduced because It gives
tho views of a wool grower on the effect of the
combination which has been formed among woolen
manufacturers. For years the sheep raiser has
been asked to vote the republican ticket on tho
promise that he would receive a special benefit at
tho hands of a republican administration, and in
stead of recognizing the justice of the Jeffersonian
maxim, "Equal rights to all and special privileges
to none," many of the wool growers have thought
themselves justified in trying to secure a pecuniary
advantage from a tariff which imposed burdens
upon those who, instead of raising sheep, had to
buy woolen goods. The republican leaders now
think, as might have been expected, that tho
manufacturers are more important than the wool
grower and more entitled to consideration. There
fore the manufacturers are allowed to combine
against the wool grower. When the doctrine, of
favoritism is once established the natural and
inevitable tendency is to favor the big -man as
against the little man, and the trust seems to be
the biggest man and the one to be favored at tho
expense of all the rest of the people. Mr. Blakely
says:
Frank P. Bennett, Esq., Publisher Wool
and Cotton Reporter, Boston, Ma3s. Dear Sir:
Yours received asking my estimate of stocks
of w.ool here. There are no stocks of wool in
" this region. I bought some last spring for
tho Amana Society Manufacturers at Plome
stead, la. There is just one little bunch of 25
fleeces of chaffy wool in this township. I know
there is but little in the county and I think
the same is true of the state of Iowa. We were
. never so bare of wool here. In my opinion,
however, it makes little difference how much
wool is in the country, since the big manufac
turers of the east made their great combina
tion a year and a half ago, to buy wool at their
own prices. The tariff is of little help or con
sequence to the wool growers so long as these
conspirators openly violate the anti-trust law
and control the price of the whole product of
the country.
The attorney general and the administra
tion take no notice of the matter nor try .to
bring the violators of the law to justice. Wool
ought to be as high as two years ago. There
is much less wool in the United States than
then and less in the world, and tho substitute
cotton is higher. The woolen mills have been
and are well employed and the duty on cloths
enables them to sell at good prices. Wool com
mission men don't dare to say anything about
the matter for fear the trust will not buy of
them. The administration is responsible for
the non-enforcement of the law and the wool
growers will so hold them.
JJJ
Justification.
In delivering the opinion of the supreme court
in the insular cases, Justice Brown said:
Grave apprehensions of danger are felt by
many eminent men a fear lest an unre
strained possession of power on the part of
1 congress may lead to unjust and oppressive
legislation, in which the natural rights of
territories or their Inhabitants may be en-
gulfed, find no justification in the action of
congress in tho past century, nor in tho con
duct of the British parliament toward its out
lying possessions slnco the American revolu
tion. The St. Louis Globo-Democrat, a republican
paper, furnishes in a recent Issue an interesting
illustration of tho conduct of tho British parlia
ment toward its "outlying possessions." This re
publican paper points out that the figures re
cently given by the registrar general show that
tho decline In Ireland's population continues. Tho
census taken in April, 1901, shows tho population
of Ireland to bo 4,450,540. Tho registrar general'-
estimate indicates that this number will be con
siderably lower next April than it was a year ago.
The census of Ireland taken in -1821 showed a
population of 0,801,827. For many years the popu
lation grew. In 1841 there were 8,175,125 people
in Ireland. Ten years later, in 1851, the popula
tion had decreased to 0,552,385 and tho decline has
continued slnco that time.
The Globe-Democrat attributes tho loss of 1,
000,000 people in 1840 to the failure of the potato
crop, but it explains that in reality the decline
was greater than this for the growth in popula
tion probably continued along through the famine;
and it estimates that thero was a probable loss
in population of 2,000,000 between 184G and 1851.
A large portion of this 2,000,000, according to this
republican paper, represented "deaths by starva
tion and other complaints superinduced by lack
of food;" the rest of this was caused by emigra
tion, the most of this being to the United States.
"The population of Ireland in this last half
century," says the Globe-Democrat, "has been one
of the tragedies of history, but the calamity has
had its compensations." And then this republican
paper explains that the compensations rest in the
fact that those Irish people who havo emigrated
to the United States have vastly improved their
condition. And, having pointed out the unhappy
conditions which these people have suffered at
home, this republican paper says "hero is tho
ultimate cause of the vast emigration from Ire
land to the United States."
This showing is interesting and instructive when
we recall the fact that Justice Brown in delivering
the opinion of tho supreme court in the insular
cases, pointed to the history of England toward
its "outlying possessions" as assurance that the
"grase apprehensions" of danger felt in the United
States concerning the colonial policy were without
justification in the conduct of the British.
JJJ
Mark the Contrast.
The republicans recently had a love feast down
in Missouri and the time was largely devoted to
boasting of the prosperous condition of the coun
try the republican party, of course, receiving all
tho credit. One of the speakers said: "Since
Grover left the White house the American people
have been living on chicken and pie," and then
he proceeded to enlarge upon Missouri's share of
the prosperity. About the same time that this
partisan glorification was going on the St. Louis
Fost-Dispatch published the following item of
news:
After selling his shoes for 10 cents to buy
. bread for his family, Theodore Cabbiac walked
in his stocking feet to his home at 1223 North
Seventh street, carrying two loaves which he
had purchased with tho money received for his
shoes.
Although alms might have been secured
from the Carr street police station or from
other sources, Cabbiac was too proud to seek
assistance until all his own resources were ex
hausted. Policeman Kappan of the Fourth district
discovered the condition of the family and
relief was furnished by Captain Boyd from
the Carr street station.
When the policeman visited the house tho
room ocupied by the Cabbiac family had
been cold for more than twenty-four hours,
the last fuel having been used on Sunday.
Six children were huddled about their
mother, who was vainly trying to keep them
warm and hush their cries for food.
The man said that a few crusts of bread
had been the only food of the family for sev
eral days and that he had been compelled to
sell his shoes because of his inability to get
employment as a laborer.
The children ranged in age from 4 to 13
years.
When the democrats were in power the repub
licans could see no one employed; when they aro
in power themselves tley never hear of any ono
out of work.
1W" 1
BJjLji1M