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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1902)
The Commoner.. i-4 Vol. a, No. 28. 9 s . 4 FORUM OF THE WEEKLY PRESS ' " C5 fe 1 . . . . Rogers (Tox.) Nows: Tho reorgan- izor is a republican in tho guiso of a democrat. Rockvlllo (Ind.) Tribune: Tho Min nesota democratic platform noeds no interpreter. Bolivar (Mo.) Herald: Whenever a . follow gets to bq a dead duck In the democratic party ho at onco becomes a man of somo importance according (o tho republican press. Sulphur Springs (Tox.) Democrat: The groat mass of tho democratic parr ty believe in tho principles of their party, as enunciated in their national platforms at Kansas City and Chica go, more strongly, ir possiblo, than whon they wore adopted. Upper Sandusky (0.) Chief: The Declaration of Indopondonco was not road in tho Philippines on tho Fourth of July. As a substitute a proclama tion was read, granting amnesty to the Filipinos who have been fighting lor their freedom. What a change in principle in glorious America since wo have colonial possessions. Batavia (0.) Sun: Reaffirmation of the Kansas City platform by the com ing state convention is not only right, but is expedient. To fail to affirm is, la the present situation, to repudiate. Tho 475,000 democrats of Ohio, who Jjcoi-iy tho' guns in. 1896, while the reorganizers of today were sulking and skulking, will continue in control. Fulton (111.) Journal: There is a widespread belief that tho democratic party in Illinois has gone bankrupt on loaders. A lot of nine-spot high bolters, wreckers and boodlers .have come to the surface, and are making a show of reorganization, but the rank and file .of thoparty take mighty little . stock In either their ability "or sincerity, Clarksvlllo (Ark.) Herald: While t the argument Is going on as to what ,' lcind of a platform the national dem ocracy should adopt at Its next sitting, -we will remark that wo had rather see the party go down in dire defeat on a genuine democratic platform than to lee it win a brilliant victory on an anything-to-get-thero document dlc :ated by deserters and indorsed by Wall street floaters. Alliance (Nob.) Herald: According .. to advices from Washington shippers ; of whisky, beer and other spirituous and malted liquors, including tobac co, to the Philippines, are to have sev , ;oral million dollars, paid out by them in tho shape of internal royenuo taxes, returned. This in accordance with a i ruling by tho secretary of the treas ury. But tho thousands of American lives that have been sacrificed can't . be given back. Tarkio (Mo.) Independent: Grover Cleveland has joined forces with tho reorganizers and ho and David Hill, of New York, have had a love feast. 1 Tho rcorganizors think that tho demo cratic party needs reorganizing, but it don't. The trouble is with tho re organizers. They need conversion to democratic principles., Whon thoy be gin to undorstand and advocate demo cratic principles they will discover that tho democratic party does not need reorganizing. Pokin (111.) Courior: Tho people of tho Philippines as a whole may or may not bo fitted for self-government, but tho fact that considerable num bers of them resist tyranny is conclu sive proof that they aro intelligent onough to appreciate tho fact that tho policy which the administration iri pursuing there in the name of the American people is in conflict with the ideas of liberty which have long been associated with tho government and people of tho United States. Eureka (111.) Democrat-Journal: The huge corporations aro not American. They have no patriotism, no country, no humanity. Thoy put their plants in this country because of the immense natural resources which they can mo nopolize, and because our adamantine tariff wall permits them to fleece 75, 000,000 people at their will. And tho most provoking thing about it is that the American people are so befooled by party cries, such as "protection to American labor," "sound finance," etc., that they vote right' along for their own injury. Franklin (La.) Vindicator-News: Tho rank. and file of tho democratic party stand for principles, which alone can preserve tho union Grover Cleve land s'tands for principles which, If carried to their ultimate end, -will wreck tho republic. Clovelandlsm and republicanism differ only In the course they are traveling, but both tend to the centralization of the wealth of the country into tho hands of the monied few, and both tend toward territorial extension, that the surplus wealth of that few may be put to profitable use in the exploitation of the countries of the conquered. Windle's Gatllng .Gun (Chicago): The Boers did not contend alone with tho British army, but tho United States became a recruiting station for tho en listment of mules and horses, which did much toward overthrowing the re publics. The American republic for tho first time in its history stood up for kings. That ought to damn tho re publican party worlds without end. Teddy's special embassy will not only assist in the coronation of a king, but it will join in tho jubilee over tho death of two republics in South Afri ca. For this crime there will come a day of reckoning. Cody (Wyo.) Dispatch: It is only a matter of time . until every honest American will be in favor of abandon ing the Philippine islands, and re turning them to the Filipinos to whom they rightfully belong. A few more such speeches as was delivered by Sen- ator Hoar a few days ago in the senate upon tho situation in the islands, will, we hope, have a tendency to show the republicans ' the error of their way. There are lots of good, honest men in the republican party, and we believe that time will prove to them that tho courso which is now being pursued in tho Philippines is wrong. Whitewright (Tex.) Sun: The pres ident has gone down to Oyster Bay and has evidently taken his press agent with him, for ho is handing out somo very warm thrusts at the trusts. It takes a shrewd man to know just when to be brave, but tho man who waits until the danger is over to parade his bravery is not only shrewd, but wise. It would not look well for the president to have recom mended anti-trust legislation while congress was in session; that body might have surprised him by enact ing the legislation. However, tho president is setting his vote-trap too soon. The bait may spoil. Malone (N. Y.) Forum: There is only one kind of democracy, in this country and there is oniy one place to find it, and that is in the last na tional platform of the. democratic par ty. Any man who subscribes to that platform is a democrat and any con vention that Indorses it is a demo cratic convention. That supreme test of democracy is yet to come for those who now prate of "loyalty," and as they have allowed their party fealty to be suspected in two campaigns the only way to restore confidence in their allegiance is by an emphatic indorsa mont of the present creed of dem ocracy at their state convention and the nomination of candidates in sym pathy with that platform. Red Wing (Minn.) Argus: Last thing before .President Roosevelt left Washington for a woll-earned vacation at Oyster Bay, he tipped it off to the newspaper correspondents that con gress would pass a bill next winter "shackling cunning" by measures of publicity. Congress has been running in circles around the trusts shrieking. "Let me get at him," for several years and Roosevelt seems to have joined the procession, striking the trusts with his air bladder injunctions and threat ening them with publicity. But not one of them proposes to take away their tariff privileges or forbid their subsidies. Red Oak (la.) Sun: The Atlantic Democrat of last week had a column editorial expressing deep regret that William J. Bryan and Henry Watter son are so strongly opposed to Grover Cleveland and "harmony.' If Cleve land stood for democratic principles, instead of the policies of the republi cans copied from him, there would be some ground for harmony, and neither Bryan nor Watterson would then op pose or criticise. Democrats who re member the stinging defeats of 1894 and 1895, when the Cleveland crowd were in authority and leadership in the party, and before Bryan became a national leader, have no longing for repetition thereof. They belleye that a ptfi'ty that remains true to principle and ' that pluckily contends for Ihe rigb will win quicker and that . in winning something worth whita will be won. Frankfort (Ind.) Standard: It sinned, and bitter, bitter was the pen alty! Cleveland stopped the trend of the people toward democracy. The country recognized the fact that, whatever its blunders, the democracy had never had the taint of Wall street corruption on its skirts till Cleveland was president. And so, when he was thrust out, six and a half million of men," bent on a restoration of power to the people, voted ' for Bryan and real democracy. Against them was. directed all the forces that Clevelandism could muster and Clevelandism, in tho name of the republican party, too, and still holds, the helm of the ship of state. Ori the democracy rests tho re sponsibility of ridding the country of Clevelandism. Will it be equal to tho task? Floydada '(Tex.) Hesperian: Tho issue between tho loyal democrats and the reorganizers is significant. The loyal democrats stand for the preserva- . tion and perpetuation of the principles of tho Chicago and Kansas City plat- i forms; the reorganizers are striving by stealth and deception to make' the democratic party essentially a repub lican party. Tho issue is a broad one, , and "the wayfaring man, though a fool, cannot err therein." Should the reorganizers succeed in capturing tho democratic party they will have ac complished -what Cleveland did for if alienating those who believe strong- er in principles than in spoils. Churches are weakened by having hypocrites, and so is the democratic party weakened by having those who. beiieve stronger in the republican prin ciples than in the Kansas City plat form declarations. j Monticello (la.) Times: The denn ocracy of Indiana, Pennsylvania and several other states at their recent convention failed to indorse the demo cratic platforms and have been lauded by thousands of republican editors for. their wisdom and judgment. The democracy of Minnesota and Ne- braska indorsed J;he party's national platform and have been fiercely as sailed by the republican press. It is evident from this that the reorganizers have the assistance of the republican: press in their work. It will be for the loyal democrat to decide whether, he is ready to sacrifice the principles he stood by for so long and follow the leadership of men who are re publicans in disguise or will put the seal of condemnation on tho reorgan ization movement which can result in nothing other than putting "it in lint with tho viows of Wall,street a M-fl ,4'