-
The Commoner.
l
It
k
tlvos contcmplato tlio good of all. From past
Qxporlcnces with him wo know that ho, will
labor toward that ond, como what may. Every
. consideration calls upon fair-minded men
throughout tlio country to hold up his hands.
. Of course, It was highly Impropor for tho
minister to say especially at a memorial service,
and, worse still, in tho presence of President
Roosevolt that his predecessor was providential
ly removed to mako room for one who could and
would protect socloty from tho trusts. It was a
plain Intimation that Presldont McKInley was not
compotont to deal with tho subject. No wonder
tho presldont frowned and expressed his disap
proval to his wlfo. Equally distasteful to him
must havo been tho eulogy pronounced upon him
by tho minister, not only In his presence, but on
an occasion mado solemn by tho recollection of tho
sad event of a year ago. ' -
But asldo from tho impropriety and inopor
tunencss of tho sermon it must have como to tho
prosidont more a3 a rebuko than as a compliment
In direct, clear and forceful language Rev. Wash
burn pointed out tho evils of tho trust syBtom,
ridiculed tho defense that is mado of them and
declared that a now crisis had como and must bo
met.
To follow this scathing denunciation of private
monopolies with commondation of President
Roosevolt as ono specially qualified to crush tho
ovll a David going forth to meet the Goliath of
wealth well, it must havo stung tho recipient-of
the compliment. If Mr. Washburn had carefully
examined tho president's record and read tho
president's speeches ho would havo known that
tho president is not imitating tho shepherd lad
ho has neither sling nor pebbles and is on excel
lent terms with the Philistines. His speeches aro
ropleto with apologies for tho trusts, ho refuses to
enforce a plain criminal statute and even eulogizes
an inactlvo attorney general whose appointment
was dictated by the trusts. He allowed a nearly
nine-months' session of congress to go by without
doing anything on the trust question and as soon
as tho session adjourned began to mako the air
vocal with his promises of future action. Instead
of using tho autnority ho has ho asks for an un
necessary amendment that must secure a two
thirds majority in both houses and then receive
the support of three-fourths of tho states an
amendment that cannot possibly be'adopted before
tho next election. J, long, as the trusts can post
pone action thoy aro content, and that they are
entirely satisfied with the president is evident
from the fact Uat conventions which are openly
and notoriously controlled by the trusts are clam
oring for his renominatlon. Without the support
of trust contributions and without the aid of
trust-controlled, newspapers tho republican party
would have no chance to win, and it must .have
brought the blood to the president's cheeks to
havo tho minister praise him as a divinely ap
pointed avenger of the wrongs suffered by tho
people. As the trusts brought the administration
into being it would be patricide for the administra
tion to kill the trusts.
President Roosevelt promised to carry, out
the policy of his predecessor and while there may
be departures on other subjects, there is no likeli
hood that tho present incumbent will deal more
effectively with the monopoly evil than President
McKinley did.
JJJ
Mr. Littiefield's Bill.
Mr. Littlefield has made known tho details of
his proposed anti-trust bill, which bill, it is said,
has the indorsement of Presidont Roosevelt
Tho "Important feature" of the bill, in Mr.
Littiefield's opinion, is that providing that no ono
shall be exempt from giving testimony in an in
quiry into a trust on the ground that his testi
mony might tend to incriminate him or subject
him to a penalty. It is provided, however, that no
. person shall bo prosecuted or subjected to any pen
alty or forfeiture on account of any transaction,
matter or thing concerning which he may testify
or produce evidence. Mr. L-ttlefleld thinks that
this provision will bring men like Morgan, Hill
and Vanderbilt into court and force them to turn
state's evidence against their will.
The bill provides that the man who sues a
trust and recovers judgment is to receive three
times tho actual damage suffered, is to have all
his lawyer fees pahl by tho trust, and that tho
trust is to pay all other expenses of the suit, in
cluding the court costs. The bill further provides
for tho publicity ix through a system of regis
tration, to Jo made with tho secretary of the
treasury. A -tax of 1 r ?r cent per annum is to bo
levied on all capital stock issued and outstanding
of any corporation engaged in interstate com
merce whose outstanding capital stock is not fully
paid in cash or other property at its casn market
value or whose capital is based wholly or in part
directly or indirectly, during any period of Its de
velopment, upon tho capitalization of earning ca
pacity or economics.
Ono thing that'stands in the way of the "im
portant feature" of Mr. Littiefield's bill, that re
lating to tho testimony of trust magnates, is that
tho indisposition on the part of these magnates
to reveal tho secrets of their methods will not bo
interfered with by the guarantee that they aro
not to bo prosecuted on tho basis of any confes
sion thoy may make. They will avoid the con
fession. Tho existing federal law provides a proceed
ing which would be more effective than anything
yet devised by Mr. Rooseveit and his associates.
It is the criminal indictment And it will occur to
tho ordinary man that it is decidedly strange
that these republican leaders go to so much trou
ble to frame ponderous bills under the 'pretense
that tho trusts are to be crushed or controlled
while the most effective of weapons lies idle on the
statute books.
It is truov that the people are confronted with
a great problem in tho question as to how to deal
with the trust evil, but wo havo a right to doubt
tho sincerity of men who, while pretending to make
a campaign against trusts, have not undertaken'
to enforce tho chief feature of the existing law,
which is the criminal proceeding, and have not
undertaken to give to the people an explanation of
their failure to adopt that simple and practical
plan.
JJJ
A Father's Influence.
On another page will be found one of Daven
port's cartoons, made for the New York Journal
and Chicago American, and reproduced by courtesy
of Mr. Hearst It was drawn to illustrate an edi
torial which appeared in Mr. Hearst's papers com
menting upon a statement attributed to ono of the
millionaires, to the effect that he gambled th his
son whenever his son desired to try his hand at a
game of chance. Tho editorial condemned the folly
of tho father who taught his son to gamble, and
contrasted his conduct with the conduct of the
father who, after setting a good example to his
son, endeavored to draw his attention to helpful
books and to sources of valuable information. Pic
tures often present truth more clearly than it can
.be done by words, and no artist has been more
successful than Davenport in, conveying lessons
through the medium of the pencil. A child re
quires all of the counsel that a parent can be
stow, and The Commoner is glad to reinforce tho
thought presented in the cartoon. -
JJJ
Who is the Party?
The Cleveland Leader says: '"lhe republican
party is competent to settle any question that
may arise. It is the party of prosperity and con
struction. It meets issues with intelligence and
wisdom, and all the timid men who vote its ticket
havo to do is to keep busy at their daily affairs
and to trust the party to do its duty as it always
has done in the past"
But who aro the party?
Here we aro told that the timid voter has
nothing to do but vote while "the party" will look
after everything. The republican organization,
composed of a few leaders and controlled 'by cor
porate wealth, will attend to the government and
relieve the voters of all responsibility. The rank
and file of the party are told to trust "tho party"
they are told that "the party" can do no wrong;
that it always has done right and always will. '
If. a lay number of the party assumes to criti
cise imperialistic methods he is denounced as a
timid republican and. told to trust the party. If
he objects to having the financiers dictate the
financial policy of the government he is denounced
as a timid republican and told to trust the partv
If he complains of tho trusts or of a high tariff he
Is denounced as a timid republican and told to trust
the party. Tho Leader's advice recalls a story
told some years ago by a farmers' alliance speaker
Ho said tho farmers would elect a man to office
and that it was tho duty of the official to act as a
watchman on the tower. "But," the speaker
added, "when tho farmer inquires, 'Watchman
what of the night?' the answer is plow on, plow
on." Tho Leaderwould simply add "and trust the
republican party."
JJJ
Real Riches.
As I was passing through southeast Kansas
a few. days ago! my attention was called to a farm
by tho side, of tho railroad.1 "There," said a gen
tleman who sat beside mo, "is the farm of a man
who homesteaded here thirty years ago. By indus
try and economy that man, with his wife as a
Vol. a, No. 37.
helper, has raised and educated four children ana
by gradual accumulation has doubled the size Tn5
his farm. Tho children are worthy citizens I
credit to their parents and to their country and
the old people are now able to live comfortably on
a modest income and their declining years ara
blessed by the affection of their children and bv
the memory of a well spent life."
Tho records of tho "four hundred" do not
chronicle the doings of this man and wife; Brad
street and Dun do not report on their financial
standing, but they are rich richer in all that goes
to mako up a happy and successful life than those
who amass millions by questionable means, waste
their strength in the dissipations of society and
die childless or leave offspring enervated by lux
ury. There are still some things that are priceless
and the Kansas couple would hardly exchange the
fortune. which they have in their own consciences
and in the character developed by tho members
of their family for all the glittering promises that
great wealth can offer.
JJJ
Returning to the Mire.
The Kearney New Era has the following to
say in regard to a populist who left tho republi
can party some years ago and has recently an
nounced "his return to the republican party. Tho
only excuso a populist can give for returning to
the republican party is that he has undergone a
complete change himself, and that he is now in a
worse position politically than the republican
party was when he left it for the evil tendencies
of -the republican party havo become more appar
ent and its transgressions have been multiplied
since the populist party was organized. The New
Era's summary of the situation is so much to the
point that it is given in full. It says that when
Mr. left the republican party "it had many
principles that were good enough for populists. It
has none now. Then it advocated bimetallism, now
it is wedded to the single-gold standard; then it
boasted of having been the author of the green
backs, now It is tneir destroyer; then it claimed
to be tho true friend of the silver dollar, now it
Is pledged to its extermination; then it was labor's
helper, now the trust promoter; then it guaranteed
civil rights to all, "White or black, now -it denies
these to the Filipinos; then its policies were meas
ured' by patriotism, now dollars and cents; then
it had a voice for struggling liberty, now shot and
shell; then it aided Christian missionaries, now it
kills Christians and bribes pagan's; then it was a
power Xor peace, now an armed force for plunder;
then its platforms extolled the teachings of its
Lincolns, Garflelds and Blaines, now it boasts of
unsoldipr-llke Funs tons and its ill-gotten gains;
then it passed a national anti-trust law, now it re
fuses to enforce it; then it condemned G. Cleve
land's financial policy, now praises and adopts
it; then it was anti-slavery, now opposes its
abolition in the Philippines; then it favored tho
masses, .now it fosters the classes."
JJJ
A Legacy of Disgrace.
On another page will be found an editorial, en
titled "A Sermon and a Suicide," reproduced from
tho Cincinnati Post The young man mentioned
left a legacy of disgrace, and yet how many men
are imitating him, apparently heedless of conse
quences to themselves and loved ones. Often par
ents with marriageable daughters place so high
an estimate upon wealth and. social position that
they will frown upon a poor young man with char
, acter, purpose and good habits and court an al
liance with some pampered son who has acquired
questionable morals by his own efforts and expects
to inherit a fortune by the efforts of his father.
"A good name" is not only better for the living
than "great riches," but it is a better inheritance
to leave to a child.
In a well ordered society and under a just
government material prosperity ought to accom
pany virtue and uprightness, but when a choice
must bo made between the two every sensible
person must pref to cherish the memory of an
ancestor's puro and noble life rather than to handle
the millions of one who lived a, life o shame and
died in a wild debauch.
Within a few days a wealthy New York finan
cier, Nicholas Fish, a man of social prominence
and son of a former cabinet officer, was killed in a
saloon in a drunken quarrel. His presence there,
his companions and his own conduct all tended to
show that he was leading a double life and no es
tate however large can wash out tho stain.
Money is corrupting the nation's morals and
buying indigencies for those who habitually vio
late the laws of society, of government, and of
There is a crying need for a r-urification of pub-