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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1903)
vmr1 nniTyfvV,mffWTJV IJW F : . yOLUME3,frUMBEIir&. WftH mm.&ssi&&i i E ,v other qucBtionB, whllo thoso who resist reform. on ono lino aro apt to resist It on other lines. Whllo circumstances may malco ono Issue paramount at one tlmo or another Issuo paramount at another time, tho democratic party must stand ready to apply democratic principles to all questions, and to protect tho peoplo's rights wherever thoso rights aro attacked. JJJ How the Skies Were Cleared. Tho Llttloflold anti-trust bill passod tho houso by an unanimous voto oil February G. The demo crats woro not permitted to amend tho moasuro. Thoy votod for it, not that It exactly sultod them, but becauso thoy regarded it as a stop in tho right dlroctlon. Mr. DoArmond, tho well-known democrat from Missouri, speaking upon tho bill pointed out that tho bill under consideration was quite a different measure from that originally introduced by Mr. Llttloflold. Referring to Mr. Llttlonold's original moasuro, Mr. DoArmond said: "When tho gentle man' from Maine started out he had blood in his oyo and a tomahawk In his hand, but by tho tlmo ho and his colioagues caught up with tho trusts thoy wore smoking tho pipe of peace, tho sky was clear and tho pickings continuo food for tho trusts " It will bo Interesting to follow the process of "sky cloarlng," referred to by Mr. DeArmond; nnd, fortunately, thero Is an unbroken chain of incidents, testimony in support of which is pro vided by republican authorities. Tho St Louis Globe-Democrat, a republican paper, in Its Issue of January 10, printed a dis patch under dato of Washington, January 15, as follows: "Tho plans of Congressman Llttloflold and his associates on tho judiciary committee to report his trust bill to tho houso tomorrow from tho full committeo havo boen abandoned. This was a direct result of a conference which was hold this afternoon at tho homo of Mr. Knox. Tho publicity provision is entirely too drastic. Ho took tho bill to Pittsburg with him tonight nnd will submit a substitute for tho publicity provision which ho believes can bo passed by congross." "t Tho nowspapora receiving tho Associated' press dispatches printed in thoir issuos of January 17 a dispatch under dato of Pittsburg, Pa., January 16, as follows: "An Informal dinner was tondered tonight by H. C. Frlck to Attorney General P. C. Knox at his palatial homo 'Clayton.' Nono but represontativo business men of tho city woro present. No speeches were made and tho function was purely a social affair. To morrow Mrs. Knox will bo glvon a reception by Mrs. Frick." Tho newspapers receiving tho Assoclatcfl press dispatches printed in their issues of January 19 a dispatch under dato of Washington, D. C, Jan uary 18, aa follows: "There woro several officials prominent in legislative and executive circles at the White houso In conforonco with the president to night. Among thorn was Attorney General Knox who remained with Mr. Roosevelt somo time. It is supposed tho trust question was considered." Lot tho thoughtful citizen read and re-read thoso telegrams. Tho republican attorney gen oral for tho United States concluded that tho Llttloflold bill as originally introduced was "en tirely too drastic." Under date of January 15 it was announced that "ho took the bill to Pittsburg with him to night and will submit a substitute for tho public ity provision which ho believes can bo passed by congress." Under date of January 1G It was announced that Mr. Knox was tendered an informal dinner ?y ? Frlclc tUo groat at(iQl trust magnate, at Mr. Prick's palatial homo "Clayton." iUJ!d0d,lt0 oC Jfinwary 18 it was announced that Mr. Knox and othor officials were in confer ence with tho president and that "it is supposed tho trust quostion was considered." In tho light of theso dispatches, it is not dif ficult to understand how tho "sky" happened to In a dispatch to tho Chicago Record-Herald undor date of Washington, February 11, William E. Curtis said that Mr. Littlefleld was surprised to learn that ho could not expect, any encourage ment from Mr. Roosevelt in the effort to push the ffll01 ,?Bt bill through tho senate! "UUUWBB " J-atueaeia remembered that Attor- The Commoner. noy General Knox had taken tho bill to Pittsburg and that as a result of that visit tho provisions of the bill which Mr. Knox regarded as entire ly too drastic" were trimmed down to suit no wishes of tho trust magnates; and it is not sur prising that ho should be a bit disturbed on learn ing that in spite of theso radical changes in Ms bill ho could not depend upon the administration s support for his measure. Is it possiblo that in the light of such ex poses as this, republicans who aro really op posed to tho trust system and who hope that the people may find practical relief from impositions will continuo to affiliate with a party that de pends upon tho trusts for its campaign funds and that trims its measures to suit the wishes of tho trust magnates? .. 4 J .-I A Republican's Views. Tho New York Independent of "December 4 prints tho "Biography of a Bootblack" as told to its representative by Roco Corresca. The follow ing extract will bo of interest to readers of Tho Conimoner: "These people aro without a king such as ours hi Italy. It is what moy call a- republic as Garibaldi wanted, and every year in the fall tho people vote. They wanted us to vote last fall, but wo did not. A man came and said that ho would get us made Americans for 50 cents and then wo could get two dollars for our votes. I talked to somo of our peo ple and they told mo that we should havo to put a paper in a box telling who' we wanted to g6vorn us. "I went with five men to the court, and when they asked mo how long I had beon in tho country I tolu them two years. After ward my countrymen Baid I was a fool and never would learn politics. "You should have said you wero fivo years here and then 'we would swear to it," was what they told me'. "There aro two kinds of people that voto here, republicans and democrats. I went to a republican meeting and tho man said that tho republicans want a republic and tho demo-" crats are against it He said that democrats are for a king whose name is Bryan and who is an Irishman. Thero aro some good Irish-' men, but many of them 'insult Italians. Thdy call us Dagoes. Sq I will be a republican. "I like this country now and t don't seo why we should have a king. Garibaldi didn't want a king, and he was the greatest man that over lived." From the above it will appear that Roco was a republican. Tho only reason he gave "was that ho was informed at a republican meeting that the republicans wanted a republic while the demo crats woro for a king. :lt is evident that while he had some prejudice against tho Irish he was most influenced by the fact that he thought the repub licans most friendly to the liberty which Gari baldi had taught his people to love. It "will also be noticed that this republican did not have a very high idea of tho right of suffrage, valuing it at $2.00 a year. It can bo said to his credit, however, that he told the truth about the time he had been hero and thyyost a chance to make $2.00 that year. ThoVedltor of The Commoner has often heard it said that many foreigners vote the republican ticket because tho name sounded so much like 're public" that, without comparing tho policies of the parties, they came to the conclusion that the re publican party is more nearly an exponent of the ideas of a republic, but this Italian's testimony would indicate that the delusion is not a natural ono arising from tho similarity of the words, but one stud ously cultivated by 'unscrupulous re publican leaders. The absurdity of this republi can claim s the greater at this time when the administration is carrying out the strenuous pol icy of Imperialism while tho democrats are de fending thoso principles of human liberty which havo raised up patriots in every land. JJJ. Religious Statistics. Religious statistics gathered from-tho most re liabe sources by Dr. Henry K. Carroll for the Christian Advocate, are full of comfort for church w T iXiS,t0 be regrotted that M0 metVod has e ,fevI.sed for collecting absolutely reliable SmSS?08 frm the dlfCerent chur branchls fo? ?i tfnS SUC W?uld mal even a "otter showing gatSereSbv h Sfl? by Dl Carro11' Tho stati8 " U,SfS0hlD) however, .show conclusively that it is not true, as we so often hear asserted by mi- perflcial observers, that tho church is losing fta' hold upon tho people. Men and women who read .and think and study see ample evidences of tho fact that tho hold of tho church is growing strong er every day. They seo it in the work of advanc ing every civic and moral reform. They see it in tho growing liberality of church people. They see it in tho growing efforts of missionary work. And they see it in tho numerous church buildings that are springing up on every hand. Tho pessimist loves to believe that the world is growing worse, and argues that it is because he sees so much of evil every day. The Cnristian optimist knows that tho world is growing better instead of worse, and understands that evil is not growing; that it is merely being shown up to a greater extent by tho whito light of Christian publicity. Evil loves tho dark and hates the light, and this explains why opposition to the church springs up here 'and thero with altogether too much frequency. The percent age of church communicants is gaining on the pop ulation, another fact shown by Dr. Carroll's sta tistics. This of itself should be an incentive to renewed effort. Dr. Carroll's figures show an aggregate of 28, 689,028 church communicants, a gain during- the past year of 405,743, and a total of 194,110 churches, a gain of 1,261. The order of the churches in the number of their communicants, as shown by Dr. Carroll's figures, is as follows: (1) Catholics, y,401,798; (2) Northern Meth. odists, 2,801,798; (3) Southern Baptists, 1,702,324;' (4) Colored Baptists, 1,615,321; (5) ' Southern Methodists, 1,518,854; (6) Disciples, 1,207,377; (7) Northern Presbyterians, 1,024,196; (8) Northern Baptists, 1,012,276; (9) Protestant Episcopal, 758,-052-; (10) African Methodist, 728,354; (11) Congre gational, 659,324; (12) Synodical Lutherans, 599, 951; (13) African Zion, 542,42. No other denom ination claims as many as 400,000 members ah.d scores of them have only a few thousand. The $20,000,000 fund just completed by the Methodists is another evidence of renewed activity in church circles, and is an example that othor churches should not be slow to follow. Taken as a whole Dr. Carroll's statistics refute the claim that interest in church work is on the wane, and provide a hopeful augury for the future. i i A Question of Intolerance. .i Mr.. Walsh's republican paper, the Chicago Chronicle; which masquerades as an exponent of democracy, is very angry because it is reported that Mr. Bryan is not willing to meet ex-President Cleveland at a political communion table. It calls it Intolerance and says that democrats who will not harmonize with the Cleveland ele ment must consent to tho rule of Hanna, Quay and Elkins. Well, the Chronicle helped to inaug urate, the rule of Hanna, Quay and Elkins and seema to enjoy it so well that it prefers its con tinuance rather than risk a return of the gov ernment to real democracy. And what is the dif ference, anyhow, between a Hanna administra tion and a Cleveland administration? Thoy aro run on the same principle and the republican ad ministration has at least one advantage, namely, that it can bo criticised by democrats while. demo crats have to apologize for a Cleveland administra tion. Until Mr. Cleveland has shown some re gret for his past conduct and given somo evidence of a desire to aid the democratic party he ought to be content to banquet with Hanna, Quay, Elk ins and the Chronicle's owner. JJJ Raising Presidential Salary. In supporting the bill raising tho president's salary to $100,000 some of the republican papers are comparing the present salary with tho salaries and allowances of European kings and omperors. inii 8dn com1montary cm the aristocratic ten SHn1S5tll0itime8,that such arments should Sow? X?ly atlvailced- The Present salary is suf ficient if our president is to live according to mSe?i3S na dB- Insteaa of tryIn& t0 enabl oueht t hf nC.UtlT t0, apo European courts we SShiin L pro,,d ? have the PsWent of a ro Sonn an exanDle that would cause the peo- $ thPi! rnorUnAries io ?ut off tho extravagances XnfiS J Ur Presi"ents have lived in suf- erished fv a5S ana they havo not toPQV- a donation I? t!he pi;esident want o malco him make the nroviinn111 d S' but they Bh ? .uiaKQ tno provision a permanent ono Tim tn-r- all w U Z In t2 0tl,,or 'e'KUostmonts, and that J " 'U'KAi