4
Vol. a, No. ai.
republican administration had raised money to
carry on a war and still had amplo revenue after
repealing tho war taxes.
Tho Wilson bill, with which tho republicans
havo found so much fault, made adoquato provi
sion for tho rovonues of tho government, but tho
supremo court, by a majority of one, reversed tho
unanimous decision of a provlous court and held
tho Income tax law unconstitutional, thus talcing
away a considerable part of tho rovonues which
tho Wilson bill provided for. It was this that
crippled tho Wilson bill; but for it that bill would
havo yielded ample rovenuo for all tho needs of
tho government.
Only a part of tho monoy secured by Cleve
land's salo of bonds was used to meet a deficit
in tho rovonues. Tho monoy borrowed by Clove
land was borrowed in pursuance of a republican
policy established at tho dictation of Wall street
and declared by Mr. Carlislo in his testimony bc
foro a house committee to havo boon unnecessary
and injurious, but Carlislo insisted that tho custom
,onco established had to bo continued. Ho was
wrong in his conclusions, but his testimony places
upon tho ropubllcan party tho responsibility for
tho bonds which they charged up to-Cleveland's
administration. Mr. Cleveland's financial policy
was republican and ought not to bo charged up to
tho democratic party.
Is it any special credit to tho republican party
to havo collected a largo sum of monoy by taxa
tion? 'Can tho republican party boast now of its
system of taxation whon it collects nearly the en
tiro rovonuo for tho support of tho federal govern
ment from internal rovenuo taxes and import
dutlos, both of which overburden the poor and
undor-burdon tho rich? It does not require a great
deal of gonius to spend other people's money, and
tho only gonius that a republican congress has
shown is an ability to spond monoy collected by
unfair and Inequitable taxation.
J,M Tho doctrlno "Lot well enough alone," it It
moans anything, means that wo must make no at
tompt to lower tho tariff or destroy the trusts.
If things aro entirely satisfactory, we must not
risk a change no matter how extortionate tho
monopolies may bo. It also means that wo must
not stop to consider principles of government or
tho dangers of imperialism so long as wo have
enough to eat and wear. This is the doctrlno of
matorialism and commercialism the doctrlno that
places the stomach abovo tho head and makes tho
claims of appetito superior to thoso of-mind and
heart.
They want to bo lot alono while they employ
tho people's monoy to exploit distant lands in tho
Interest of a few corporations whilo thoy con
vert a republic into an empire.
Yet. whilo tho republicans aro shouting "Let
well enough alono" and insisting that nothing
shall be dono to change tho tariff laws or the
trust laws, they aro themselves insisting upon
such a change in the financial laws as will give
greater privileges to tho bankers and greater
profits to tho financiers. Their boasting is not
only groundless, but thoy themselves are not will
ing to bo bound by their own logic. They aro
not willing to "lot well enough alone" in the mat
tor of tho merchant marine; they want to tako
from the taxpayors enormous subsidies to fill the
purses of a few big steamboat owners. Thoy pro
test against being disturbed in tho possession of
tho advantages which they onjoy, but they insist
on being allowed to reach out after new advant
ages and now privileges. Tho democrats will bo
prepared to meet the republicans not on ono issue
alone, but all along the line.
i JJJ
Peace in South Africa.
As stated in the last issue of Tho Commoner
a treaty of peaco has been agreed upon between
England and the Boors. Except that it recognizes
English sovereignty it is much xrioro favorablo to
the Boors than was expected. Thoso who lament
at the Boors' loss of -their independence will re-
The Commoner.
'
joico that the burghers wero able to secure as largo
a share as they havo in tho government of their,
country. Their sacrifices havo not been in vain,
for thoy havo taught England a lesson that will
mako hor slow to encroach upon the rights which
havo been conceded to them. Their struggle has
boon tho wonder of this generation, if not of his
tory. Seldom havo so few held out so bravely,
against such great numbers, and probably never
has so inferior a force made victory so costly.
If our nation had not itself been engaged In an
Imperial policy in the orient there is no doubt
that American sympathy would havo Deen ex
pressed and that that sympathy wouldhave gono
far toward moulding a public opinion that would'
havo forced England to grant independence to the
Boors. Intervention was nof needed and was not
asked, but instead of giving sympathy to tho
Boers this nation by its official conduct constantly
gavo encouragement to England and we aro now
called upon to mourn the death of two republics
that might have lived had wobeen true to our
history and our traditions.
JJJ
The Coal Strike.
Walter Wellman, the special correspondent of
tho Chicago Record-Herald, is doing excellent
work In connection with tho strike of the coal
miners against tho coal trust In one of his ar
ticles he thus speaks of the coal trust:
Here Is a skillful combination of many
corporations engaged in interstate trade to
control the entire output and the selling prices
in an industry to which the public pays moro
than $250,000,000 a year. They destroy all
competition, choke individual initiative, sup
press as far as possible the laws of supply ana
demand, nullify tho great principle upon which
all industrialism is founded rivalry between
men engaged in the same business as to whlcn
shall produce and sell the cheapest that which
the public has to buy.
Tho coal trust not only extorts from the con
sumer and crushes out tho individual mine owner,
but it proceeds to fix arbitrarily the terms and
conditions upon which its multitude of employes
-the real wealth producers must work or starve.
According to Mr. Wellman the amount col
lected from tho people is moro than $250,000,000.
Of this sum tho operators claim to pay $57,000,000
to their employes, but Mr. Wellman charges that
according to the statistics furnished by the Penn
sylvania state officials they only pay $40,000,000.
When on a former occasion thoy wero compelled
to raise the wages 10 per cent they immediately
raised tho price of coal from three to five times
as much as tho increase in wages amounted to.
Tho railroads own or control enough of the mines
to give them absolute dominion over the trade,
and by fixing the freights high and the price of
the coal at the mine low, they can conceal the in
justice dono.
The coal miners' union Is engaged in a lire or
death struggle with this great coal combination,
and tho sympathies of the people generally must
be with-the miners. President Mitchell has snown
a great deal of ability in giving directions to tne
strikers' and, realizing that the preservation of
order is even moro important to the miners than
to the employes, he has exerted himself to pre
vent any outbreak.
Society, however, has as much at stake as
either employer or employe, and is interested in
providing a system of arbitration whereby differ
ences can bo settled without a resort to prolonged
and expensive strikes. An impartial commission
that would investigate the facts and make public
its findings would bo of immense service. There
is a sense of justice In tho human heart that can
always bo appealed to, and this sense of justice
would assist materially in tho settling of diffi
culties. It is not necessary that arbitration should
be compulsory. The Important thing is to inform
tho public of tho merits of the controversy.
Neither side can stand out long against an intelli
gent public opinion. Mr. Wellman is doing all
that an individual can do to call tho attention or
the public to the situation, but no ono individual
can speak with tho authority of a board of ar
bitration. It is to bo regretted that tho coal miners are
so slow to realize that tho ballot box furnishes a
means of redress. If they would act as unitedly
at the polls as they do in a strike, strikes would
bo unnecessary. So long as they can be inducea
to vote for tho men nominated by the railroads
and corporations thoy will find it difficult to sdcuro
any legislation that really advances their inter
ests.
JJJ
The Indiana Convention.
Tho democrats of Indiana havo adopted!
a good platform, but they have permitted the re
organizing element to win a victory which will
alienate more democrats than it will draw back
to the party. While the platform denounces the
Fowler bill and tho trusts, and takes a strong
position on tho question of imperialism, the fail
ure of the par.ty to reaffirm the Kansas City plat
form shows that the men who controlled tho con
vention were either out of harmony with tho ma
jority of the party or too timid to give voice to
the convictions of the -voters.
The republican papers have seized upon tho
action of the convention as an evidence that tho
party has gono back to the Cleveland regime,
'and whilo this is not true there is enough evidence
of it to excite suspicion among those who made
heroic sacrifices in 1896 to save the party from
destruction.
The Chicago Times-Herald says: "In respect
to its personnel the convention differed radically
from those of 189G and 1900, for in those gather
ings many of the most prominent democrats of the
state took no part whatever, and it was generally
understood that they would not support the tickets
nominated. Today, however, every delegation
showed up with men who were openly for tho
gold standard in 1896." These 'prominent demo
crats" who have betrayed the party in the cam
paigns past and who demand a surrender of tho
party's position on tho money question as a conui
tion precedent to their return, are more anxious to
control the party than to defeat the republicans.
They were responsible for the defeat of the party In
1896 and in 1900, and having brought upon tno
country tho evils that have followed a republican
administration, thoy threaten the democratic party
with a continuance of these evils unless they (tho
"prominent democrats") are allowed to run tiie
party and write the platform. The more promi
nence they have in the party the more distrust
will be aroused among those who really desire re-
forms.
What hope is there of defeating the Fowler
bill with its branch banks, its asset currency and
its redeemable silver dollar, if the democratic op
position must be entrusted to the men who took
the side of the financiers in the great struggle be
tween the money changers and tho producers of
wealth? The men who preferred a republican vic
tory to the Chicago or Kansas City platform wilt
never institute any reform or redress any griev
ance. They never fight an open battle; the victory
which they have gained in Indiana (insofar as
they have gained one) has been gained by stealth
and because the rank and file were deceived.
They talk loudly about harmony, but they
are willing to disrupt the party unless the party
humiliates itself by a surrender of its position.
The men who now boast of the increased produc
tion of gold as a reason for the abandonment of
silver favored the abandonment of silver before
new gold was discovered, and as they wanted
a dear dollar then they will, if entrusted with
power, find some way of depriving the people of
the benefits of a larger gold supply.
The struggle between human rights and Mam
mon Is as fierce today as it was in 1896 and 1900,
and no victory can be won by compromise. Tho
Commoner urges its Indiana readers to sup
port the ticket nominated, but it also urges .them
to organize to prevent another evasion. If
the gold standard is good, let it be indorsed; if it
is bad, the party cannot afford to be Silent about
it. No half-way measures will do; either tho
financiers will be given control, not only of tho
financial system of the country, but of tho entire
government, or the government must bo placed m
the hands of those who will administer it in tho
interests of the masses.
It is a matter of regret that any of the dele
gates advocated the mention of Mr. -Bryan's namo
in the platform. Tho fight should not be made for
any man, but for the principles of the party. Mr.
Bryan is not a canaidate for anything; he is not
seeking the indorsement of any convention, but
like millions of other democrats he is Interested
in having tho democratic party stand for some
thing positive and definite. A fight for a prin
ciple will separate loyal democrats rrom time
servers; a fight over an individual leaves tho
principles still unsettled.