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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1902)
. ,0. t.-i . .. Wn.M ., V s 'K71 tt 1 I HI !. If i-' ; w fcl I i. ! I 1 K ir to thoir good judgmont to dotormlno whother thoy trespass beyond tho bounds of tho "lim ited numbor" contemplated by tho ruling. Porsonal "lntorost" In tho circulation of "gift" or "complimentary" copies of second class publicationseither in the udvertlse monts or subject inattor vitiates their char actor as such .and renders them unmailublo at tho pound rato of postage. Yours respectfully, EDWIN C. MADDEN, Third Assistant Postmaster General. Tho postofllco department gave out a state ment to tho offect that a part of Tho Commoner's circulation had been condemned. It will bo scon from tho abovo letter that tho department not only has failed to condemn any part of Tho Com moner's circulation, but has given conclusive proof of tho political bias of tho man who occupies the important position of third assistant postmaster genoral and acts as a censor over tho newspapers of tho United Stales. Instead of laying down rules for tho guidanco of tho proprietors of newspapers, lie deals In generalities and innu'ondocs. If any definite conclusion can bo drawn from tho first paragraph of his letter, it is that when a sub scription is mado by ono person for another it is not incumbent upon tho proprietor of a paper to Inquire WHY tho subscription Is made. This makes It posslblo for a reador of Tho Commoner to sond tho papor to a friend "because of tho doctrinos advocated," but In sending in tho sub scription ho must bo careful not to inform tho oditor that this is his reason for subscribing. If ho lilces tho nows columns of tho paper, or if ho is interested in any department of tho paper except tho editorial department or has any other motive that is considered laudable by tho third assistant postmaster general, ho need not fear to state it. But if ho is interested in tho Declaration of Inde pendence, or in tho ovorthrow of tho trusts or in provonting Wall street domination of tho treas ury, or if ho wants a third assistant postmaster general who is moro interested in enforcing tho law than ho is in advancing tho interests of the republican party, ho must carofully conceal tho fact from tho editor, so that tho editor will bo ignorant of any Individual or combined effort to extend tho circulation of tho paper. This pro tection, however, may not bo completo, for if Mr. Madden suspects that a subscriber is trying to fur ther tho "personal ends of tho individual or com bination, whether tho purpose of such circulation be financial advantage or otherwise," there may bo trouble yet. Tho editor of Tho Commoner Is in .favor of constitutional liberty. Ho feels that ho has a personal interest In that subject. Ho also feels that his children have a personal Interest in tho nubject, and just now tho paper is devoting a good deal of timo to opposing imperialism. If Tho Commoner can aid oven to a small extent In tho rescue of this nalion from tho greedy, mercenary and destructive policy supported by Mr. Madden and his employers, then the editor of tho paper will feel that.ho has derived a personal advantages of no small proportions. Tho fact that he be liovos that thp advuutago would be shared by all liborty-loving people everywhere, does not pre vont its being a personal advantage to him. The editor of Tho Commoner believes that ho will derive a personal advantage from the overthrow of tho trusts-not an advantage enjoyed by him alone, but an advantage shared by tho great ma jority of the people of tho country. Does Mr Madden regard this as a personal end in the sense in which he uses tho term? Likewise tho editor of Tho Commoner is personally interested in tho return of the government to its old foundations and in greater simplicity and economy in its ad ministration. Of course this advantage, whilo per sonal to each citizen, will be shared by all citizens Does Mr. Madden regard this as an un awfu Z prohibited personal end? unlawful or The postofllco department has been fully in formed of the reasons whioh inn .! - " L . rnt f Th 0n P-Pose harieen The Commoner clearly proclaimed and repeatedly reiterated. Tho Commoner was established primarily for tho ad vocacy of democratic principles, for tho discussion of public questions end for tho advancement of governmental, social and economic reforms. Tho paper contains a homo department, a news depart ment, a forum for tho reproduction of editorials which appear in other weekly papers and a de partment wherein current events are discussed in a lighter voin; but all of these departments are subordinate to the general purpose of tho paper. Is there any law which discriminates against such a paper, and if there is not, what right has Mr. Madden to make rules which condemn What the law permits? Has not such a paper as much right to second-class mail privileges as a paper printed solely for tho purpose of disseminating news? Mr. Madden has virtually withdrawn his ob jection to tho complimentary copies sent to cer tain senators and members of congress, for he says that "the practice" of sending complimentary copies "has obtained for many years," adding that "the department, believing tho publishers of legiti mate publications could not afford nor be willing to unduly exercise tho privilege, has left it en tirely to their good judgment to determine whether they trespass beyond tho bounds of tho 'limited number' contemplated by the ruling." There is the ruling, and the publisher of The Commoner (unless Mr. Madden holds that Tho Commoner is not a "legitimate publication") will continue, in the exercise of his judgment, to send complimentary copies to those fusion and demo cratic members of the senate and house who are not regular subscribers. Mr. Madden suggests by way of qualification that "personal interest" in the circulation of "gift" or "complimentary" copies of second-class publi cations "either In the advertisements or subject matter vitiates their character as such and ren ders Jhem unmailable at the pound rate of post age." If Mr. Madden means to say that the editor of Tho Commoner has any such interest in the send ing of these complimentary copies as would "vi tiate their character and render them unmailable at. tho pound rato of postage," he will have to come out into the open and say so. And while he is ruling on tho subject of "personal interest," might it not bo well for him to define the personal in terest which ho, as a republican politician, has in preventing the circulation of a democratic paper? If there is any law which justifies him in using his position to advance his own personal interests or the interests of tho party through whose aid he draws his salary, let him quote the law and the editor of The Commoner will undertake to se cure its repeal. Mr. Madden mistakes his location as well as his vocation. He imagines that he is in tho Phil ippine islands enforcing arbitrary laws for the protection of the military situation, whereas he is simply a federal official, appointed for a lim ited term, to administer a subordinate department of the postofllco department and to enforce the laws according to their tenure and purport. His endeavor to inject a stump speech Into official com munications shows that ho does not fully apnre- official110 dienHy f hIS PSiti0n r th dUty of au JJJ Who Saved Us? There is a touch of humor in tho very serious controversy now going on as to who saved tho United States from European interference during the Spanish-American war. It was insisted hat we ought to send envoys to the crowning of Ed ward VII. as a token of our appreciation of influence which England exerted in our behalf while the Spanish-American war was 1 ln2 PrinC6 H6nry Planned hIs vis' "o T' iS!i W? bGgan t0 hGar 0f Gr great friendliness in 1898. Tho controversy has waxed Volume aNo. a?. hot between English papers and German papers, and between English statesmen and German statesmen. Each nation has endeavored to show not only that its own attitude was exceedingly friendly, but that the other nations would have been glad to give us trouble. Among the documents brought out by the con troversy is a communication addressed by Count 7on Buelow, then secretary of state, to the Ger man emperor, transmitting a telegram from Dr. von Hollenben at Washington. It was dated April 16 and reads: The British ambassador today took tho initiative in a very remarkable manner in a new collective step of the representatives of the powers here. We suppose the queen re . gent made representations to the queen of England. In this sense the six representa tives, at tho request of the British ambassador, are telegraphing to their governments in tho sense which follows: "In view of the attitude of congress no hope of peace can any longer be sustained and the general opinion is that the powers also would have no objection to war. A good basis for fresh negotiations appears to be af forded by the note of the Spanish minister, April 10. If this view is shared by the gov ernments it seems advisable to dispel the er roneous notion here that armed intervention In Cuba meets with tho support the of civilized world. (The president, in his message of De cember, said it was only in that case that ho desired Intervention.) The representatives of tho powers here think in these circumstances that the great powers might direct the atten tion of the American government to the Span ish note of April 10 and might declare that Intervention did not appear to them to be justified. This declaration might take the form of a collective n6te from the powers to tho representative of the United States. Such a document would produce a greater impression and tho representatives of the powers hero ' would not then incur the risk of appearing only to repeat their first step which the presi- dent, in his latest message, has not even . deigned to mention. In the event of an iden tical note being decided upon it would be ad visable to publish it at once in order that the civilized world, to whose authority the appeal is made, may be absolved from reproach In approving of this attack." Dr. von Hollenben added for himself: "Per sonally I regard this demonstration somewhat coldly." The emperor upon reading it made tho following marginal note: "I regard it as com pletely purposeless, futile and therefore preju dicial. I am against this step." Dr. Hollenben subsequently forwarded the text of tho collective telegram as originally submitted by Lord Paunce fote to the other foreign representatives for com munication to their governments. These documents certainly make out a pretty strong case against the English ambassador and in favor of the German ambassador and the Ger man emperor, but Lord Cranbome rushes to tho rescue and in reply to a question in parliament aeclares that what Lord Pauncefote did he VZ as dean of the ambassadors at the verbal sugges tion of some of his colleagues," and that what- Trm0 henii , eXPreSSed by'L0rd Po1e during the discussion were "personal to him and not pursuant to the instruction from h ? ma jesty's government." It ia also asserted that her majesty's government on receipt o til . cation at once objected to Tbl communi on judicious AnVcA! Prosed action aa iujuuicious. And so the matter stands t it, after all, very material which n n! friendly, or whether either na ion 7? mSt If other nations had oined in a .? Unf,rlend1 Have been purely a diploma ic onet IT evidence that any of them I , eie Is no interfere or that all ofCoSI Had any disposition to attemnT n . haV0 United States. Nations alwayT do Ll f" Ul think will in the long run 11 ? WMch they and it is folly to expect tLf VV thenlves, is going to tl -tion United States, and if EuronI befrnd tho is host for them, tVy ZZtZl ' " amount of gratitude, even f ) jtf v tkt?fcj.a ttpsrssgrlr? v. ,