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only rocelvo half that sum, and out of It have to
pay their campaign expenses and their travelling1
oxponses (oxcoptlng, of courso, travelling covered
by mllcago). Members of the cabinet who hold
ofllco for but four years rccolvo less than our
supremo Judges, whilo tholr work Is moro con
fining, and tholr living cxponses greater, not to
speak of tho Interruption to tholr business. Thud
It will bo soon that from a purely money stand
point tho supromo court Judges are bettor paid
than most of our public servants.
Thoro is anothor phase of tho subject, how
ovor, that ought to bo considered, and It is oven
moro important than tho money consideration. If
tho salary of supromo court Judges Is increased It
will havo its influonco upon tho selection of Judges.
When tho president comes to mako an appointment
ho will bo urged to appoint somo ono whoso pro
fessional incomo Is large for thoso who aro
anxious to lncreaso salaries aro prone to measuro
mon by tho Incomo which thoy enjoy. If a judge
on tho supromo court bench of ono of tho states
has mado a good record and is ur&sd for a place
upon tho supromo bonch, ho will havo little chanco
In' competition with city lawyers who havo made
largo Incomes out of corporation cases, and no
nttornoy in a city of tho second class will stand
any chanco at all. Tho lawyors who aro enjoying
big incomes today aro tho corporation lawyors,
and when a paper says, as tho Globo does, that
"no lawyer of high standing and oxporienco in his
calling would regard ton thousand dollars as an
ontircly satisfactory rate of compensation," it
means to say that the railroad and trust attorneys
of tho country would not bo willing to accept posi
tions on tho supremo bench at the present salary,
nnd tho inforonco naturally follows that wo must
raise tho salaries if wo expect to draw tho big
corporation attorneys away from their clients. "
A judge, however honest ho may bo, has his pro--JudlGG
anOIas Uko-any-otliarftiuividual; ana bis
prejudice and bias naturally and Inevitably make
him lean toward tho people with whom he is
familiar. All judges aro influenced moro or less
by public opinion, but it is tho public opinion with
which thoy come into actual contact. A man who
has a lifo position with oven ton thousand dollars
a year soon makes for himself an environment that
gives him a one-sided view of tho world. Thoso
whom ho meets in society, at homo, at tho summer
resorts and at tho winter resorts aro tho well-to-do
and tho prosperous, and he is moro or less im
pregnated with tho views entertained by those
with whom ho associates. This at tho present
time gives to tho rich and woll-known suitor a
considerable advantage over tho poor and obscure
one. If we increase tho salary and thus limit
tho appointment of judges to men whoso incomes
have already soparated them from the wealth
pi oducing masses, wo mako evon more remote tho
avorago citizen's chanco of securing absolute jus
tice. Tho proposed lncreaso in the salary of the
judges will in fact prove a death warrant to the
ambition of thousands of attorneys who live in
the smaller cities where no ono can possibly earn
an. incomo largo enough to bring him within tho
rango of vision of those who measuro legal ability
and judicial capacity by tho size of tho lawyer's
fees. Tho higher salaries will also increase tho
advantage wich great corporations and largo
financial interests will havo In tho supreme court
when it is presided over by men who havo re
ceived their training as advocates of corporations,
and have from those corporations received salaries
largo enough to commend them to high salaried
positions,
JJJ
The Debtor's Option.
A reader of The Commonor commenting on
the definition of bimetallism which recently ap
peared in the columns of this paper, asks why no
mention was mado of what is known as the dob
tor's option. Tho answer Is that tho subject was
The Commoner.
discussed from the standpoint of coinage and this
phase of tho subject was not under consideration,
That the debtor has the right to select the coin of
payment is a necessary part of bimetallism, so
necessary that no ono can believe in bimetallism
without recognizing tho debtor's right to the op
tion. If tho creditor has tho right to demand tho
doaror metal he will do so, and this demand, in
creasing the former demand for the dearer metal,
will mako that metal dearer still and thus con
stantly increase tho gap, if there be one, between
the metals. If, on tho other hand, tho debtor has
the option, his demand for tho cheaper metal will
increase the former demand for that metal, and de
crease the demand for the dearer metal, thus tend
ing to close the gap between tho metals, if there
be ono.
It may bo assumed that the creditor and debtor
aro alike selfish, but tho selfishness of tho creditor,
If permitted to indulge itself, would destroy tho
parity between tho metals, while tho selfishness of
tho debtor, if permitted to indulge itself, pre
serves the parity between the metals.
Society, without desiring to benefit either
debtor or creditor, must for its own protection
take the side of the debtor, for in no other way
can tho two metals be kept in circulation.
JJJ
Respectable Criminals.
Tho interstate commerce commission, in its
fifteenth annual report recently submitted to con
gress, presents a scorching indictment of the meth
ods employed by railroad officials to evade and
violate the laws of the United States. Tho fol
lowing extract ought to challenge public atten
tion and serious consideration:
These statements apply with added force
to the present situation. In repeating tho
viows thus expressed the commission believes
that its duty in respect of recommendations is
--most suitably performed,
Referring to recent investigations made
into the movement of packing house prod
ucts and tho movement of grain and grain,
products, the commission says that the facts
therein developed aro of such a character
that no thoughtful person can contemplate
them with indifference. That the leading
traffic officials of many of the principal rail
way lines, men occupying high positions and
charged w.ith the most important duties, should
deliberately violate tho statute law of the land,
and In some cases agree with each other to do
so; that it should be thought by them neces
sary to destroy vouchers and to so manipulate
bookkeeping as to obliterate evidence of the
transactions; that hundreds of thousands of
dollars should be paid in unlawful rebates to .
a few great packing houses; that the business
of railroad transportation, the most important
but ono in the country today, paying the high
est salaries and holding out to young men the
greatest inducements, should to such an ex
tent be conducted in open disregard of law
must be surprising and offensive to all right
minded persons. Equally startling at least
is the fact that the owners of these packing
houses, men whose names are known through
out the commercial world, should seemingly be
eager to augment their gains with the enorm
ous amounts of these rebates which they re
ceive in plain defiance of a federal statute.
These facts carry their own comment, and
nothing said by us can add to their signifi
cance. 6
Hero are the respectable criminals. They
stand high in business, in politics, in society and
in the church, but they aro violating the law con
spiring with others to violate the law, granting
rebates and making discriminations that bankrupt
some business men and make enormous fortunes
for others. All these things are being done and
yet how little attention the public gives to tho
matter, if n man stealg a pig hQ ig arrested anfl
all the forces of society are bent to his immediate
conviction and punishment. But when great
wrongs are committed the processes of justice are
neither swift nor certain. , For several years the
inters ate commerce commission has been calling
at ention to the violation of law. It has been
asking for power to bring these criminals to jus-
tlce,; but ttie cbrporations have so completely domt
nated the- republican party and so thoroughly con
trolled congress that no attention has been paid
to the reports of the commission or to the inter
ests of the public.
The Kansas City platform contained the fol
lowing plank:
We favor an enlargement of the scope, of
the interstate commerce law as will enablo.tho
commission to protect individuals and com-.
munities frdm discriminations and the public
from unjust and unfair transportation rates.
This plank was written as an indorsement of
the demand made by the interstate commerce com
mission a bi-partisan body having a republican
majority but how many votes were influenced by
the plank? The corporations understood the sit
uation and supported the republican party, but
republican farmers, business men and laboring
men seemed indifferent to the whole matter. Will
they remain indifferent? Can they read the
charges preferred by the interstate commerce com
mission and still consent to a condition wherein
the corporations support the republican party in
return for the immunity which the republican
party grants to the corporations?
When the republicans are legislating on tho
subject of anarchy it is to be hoped that they will
make their anti-anarchy measure comprehensive
enough to embrace the crimes of these high
toned, influential and so-called respectable- vio
lators of the law. . - "'
JJJ " '
Do They Earn It?
The Philadelphia Press of a recent issue con
tains a lengthy article describing the enormous
profits realized by some of the bankers and trust
promoters. For instance, it is reported ,that J.
Pierpont Morgan's firm earned (or rather enjoyed)
an income of seventeen millions of dollars, exclu
sive of the profits derived from the organization ot
the steel trust. Of this the senior partner is said
to have received 75 per cent.
The First National Bank of New York declared
dividends aggregating nearly two thousand per
cent on the capital. It is also reported that those
who "promoted" and "financed" the steel trust re
ceived more than fifty millions of stock as a
bonus.
Are these sums earned? Do those- who re
ceive them furnish to society any adequate re
turn, for the money paid, to them? And is this
earning- power, or collecting power, due to natural
ability, to superior intellect, to higher character,
or to privileges conferred by the government?
As the farmer endures exposure in the care of his
stock,, or wearies himself following the plow,
he can study these figures, and ask himself wheth
er tha government of which he is a part is being
administered according to the doctrine of equal
rights to. all and special privileges to none. As
tho mechanic is laboring nine or ten hours a day,
buoyed up by the hope of an eight hour day but
conscious that severe ' sickness in the family
would soon exhaust his savings, let him consider
whether his votes have been, cast for the protect
ion of his own interests or for the advancement of
syndicates.
As the country merchant goes early to hia
Btore and returns late, let him consider whether
there is as great a difference, as the difference be
tween their incomes would indicate, between his
services to society and the services rendered by
thoso who are in position to exact millions In
return.
As ,the professional man and the teacher con
sume standard oil and wear away the night in
study, let them devote a little time to the problem
presented by a compP-icm of their services and
salaries with the services rendered by and sal
aries paid to Morgan and Schwab
, " ?e T' th artl8an' Q nwrohant and
the professional man will ive a little time to tho
study of this Interesting question they will not
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