'W'tiHm nwwwii wiifrywHy The Commoner lRCH 20, 1903. fc" ThG Baltimore Sun anva tTinf nnvsr vsrt nm "a two billion dollar nation," and provides to the R. taxpayers tnis nint: "uur Blame statesmen -will be extravagant the just as long as the people aro Peple. willing to be taxed to pile up a Rlirnllia in Mm tronanrv Tf tnv. Jt fcJ AAA WUW VI VUWU4 .. VVfc lyerS are indiffnrp.nf in thaiv nn InforAflta thov lay rest assured that nnnrrrnRR will nlnno Tin mirh Ion the reckless expenditure of the people's money." Reckless and Iadlfferent. The extra vacan pa nf tho rflmiWInnn prniproqi tprompts the Boston Post to say: "It has been a j-cmuuss uu won ua an mewuiuut congress and the people must pay the cost. In the midst of peace the government is run at nTGatfir r.nof tlmn in flmo r? KWar. We mav bn ahlft tn Rtnnri t whlln irnrt la flourishing and labor finds employment, "but let pepression and hard times come again, as they wintry win come, ana tnis stupendous extrava gant ui waamngcon win Dring about a pinch thai vui ureea a political revolution." 32 Referring to the enormous annronriatlons lade by the recent congress, the Chicago Rec ord-Herald says: "Whether the country belongB In the two billion dollar class, we aro cer tain to get a two billion dollar congress." Mr. Livingston's fig- res show that we already have a two billion dol- Two Bills In Cengress, a.-', , f $- k--M i?-r congress; and yet it is true that if the people Br -ntinue to trust the republican party with power, K& rt-v-0 will be certain to have a four billion dollar w&?2m r y -v4fl a j iS ?tu? vTrfl mi m congress. If the people will only consent to keen fen "letting well enough alone." thev will find that alfiere is no limit to the ability of a republican con gress to spend the people's money; The announcement that the war denartment Lkas notified governors of all. the states that it is . prepared to supply them upon inoso demand with a stock of "riot Riot cartridges" has attracted con- Shells, siderable attention throughout the country. Commenting upon fcthis announcement, the Detroit Times says: "Pr'os feperity being almost sickeningly abundant and the "trusts proclaiming that the compact organization ,.ot industry is a guarantee that it will remain for Jmany years, is it not a little strange that. the : government, at this of all times, should hae", Ldeemed it wise to shatter the precedents of more Sthan a century and distribute to the' governors of a.ll the states a special "riot" cartridge?" The Shameless Spots. A St Louis paper indignantly denies that St MCiouis Is to be distinguished for shameless cor ruption. It points out that, as everybody believes, there is cor ruption in many of the cities of the United States, and it per tinently insists that Instead of being required to bear an exceptional burden of shame St Louis be credited with the earnest and vigorous effort on the part of its authorities, a democratic circuit attorney by the way, 'to en- K force the law and to call the corruptionists to a strict account. Commentlnc: approvingly on this St Louis claim, the Pittsburg Dispatch says: "The cities which fail to send corruptionists to jail are the really shameless spots." Reform Is Imperative The Pittsburg Democrat strikes a tellincr blow s-Yior election or senators nv tno neonio. when it declares: "The senate has, lately more than ever, been ar rogating to Itself a supremacy over the co-ordinate branches of the government Yet almost simultaneously with this pretension It exhibits a spectacle of utter futility due to its own faults. Its members have admitted that its acts aro sub ject to the prohibition of selfish cliques and it ap proaches the close of the session with a confessed inability to pass measures of which nine-tenths of its members approve. 'Could there be a more hu miliating demonstration that the senate needs to reform its procedure as well as that the people should reform its membership?" The Omaha Bee, a republican paper with anti monopoly tendencies, hits the. nail on the herd when it says: "'It is refreshing to see the Wabash set up as one of the reasons Why the courts should enjoin its employes from striking the obligation it owes under the interstate commerce law to keep its trains moving for the benefit of the public. The Heads I,. Win Talis You Lose. railroads aro always ready to appeal to the inter state commerce law whenevor they want protec tion from tho courts, but the law never governs them when shippers or patrons ask to have tho guaranties of tho interstate law enforced. 'Heads I win and tails you lose' is not in It with tho way tho railroads play battledore and shuttlecock with the interstate commerco law." Referring to political platforms, Henry Wat terson says that "one is as binding as another becauso none is binding at all." What jr. Watterson might contribute About an interesting article to his al- 1896 ways interesting newspaper if he would explain why political conventions that are presumed to bo composed of intelligent men go to the trouble of framing plat forms. And if, after all, in the opinion of Mr. Watterson, tho language of platforms is so im material, how did it bappon that Mr. Watterson who has always prided himself on being a demo crat deemed it necessary to leave tho democratic party in 1896 simply becauso of tho platform adopted by the national convention. Tho Philadelphia Inquirer, a paper that can not be accused of any partiality for democrats or populists, has finally concluded that "one of the changes that are bound to come sooner or later in tho constitution of the United' States is in tho manner of electing senators. As tho years have worn on tho plan of permitting legislatures to mako the choice has been criticised more and more. Leg islatures are usually more easily handled than tho people can bo. The result has been scand-ils innumerable. The purchase, of a seat in tho United States senate is by no means unknown. Senators should be elected just as are governors. Let the people have their way in the matter. In that event we shall hear no more of purchased legislatures." Electon Senators. A Delayed Vindication In his special message to congress relating to the Philippines, President Roosevelt says that "the conditions of productive in dustry and business are con siderably worso than in' No vember, the date of the last re port, and growing worse every month." In his annual message to congress, Mr. Roosevelt said: "No policy ever entered into by the. American people has vindicated itself in more signal manner than the policy of holding tho Philippines." And again in his special message, referring to the calamities which have befallen the people of the Philippines, he says that "they cannot be completely repaired, but tho suffering can be greatly alleviated." It is very evident that the vindication of the administration's Philippine policy has not yet arrived in spite of the state ments made in Mr. Roosevelt's annual message. vs. Municipal Ownership. One of the most interesting addresses deliv ered in the municipal ownership national con vention held in New York, was that of Charles R. Bellamy, general manager of the Liver pool municipal tramway. Mr. Bellamy said that the Liver pool experiment had been advantageous to tho public in all respects and in support of this state ment ho presented these facts: "We had inade quate service, high fares, horse traction, and un sanitary cars. Wo purchased sixty-eight miles of tramways, made scrap of the entire equipment and installed electricity and all modern improve ments. We reduced fares, and gave employes shorter hours, free uniforms, and more pay. We Increased the number of passengers from 38,000, 000 in 1897, to 109,000,000 last year, and the re ceipts as from $1,295,000 to $11,000,000. Wo paid all charges and had a reserve of $2,431,000 left" The Springfield (Mass.) Republican directs at tention to an Important fact when it says: "In so far as Mr. Lodge represents Keep the administration, it coolly re It fuses to permit further Investl- Dark. gation so that the people may gain full acquaintance with the proceedings of the United States in the Philippic Islands and of the conditions there existing. Au tocratic monarchy could not go farther than this in dealing with a most reasonable popular re quest There must bo reasons for this refusal, but there cannot be any which rest upon tho broad principles of a republican government ac countable to the people and ready to give them full knowledge of all its proceedings. Nothing could bo more un-American than a strenuosity of evasion and a conspiracy of suppression, and eves tho. outward look of theso things should be avoided." In his statement to Speaker Henderson, Mr. Roosovelt said: "Taken as a whole, no other con Et gress of recont years has to its credit a record of more substan- Tu tial achievement lor tho public Brute. eood than this, over tho lowor branch of which you presided. I congratulate you and It" Commenting upon this Btatomont the New York Sun, a paper that as tho generally accredited representative of J. Pier pont Morgan, must bo accepted atf authority on this point, says: "When a similar message was sent to the senate, tho dignified memborB of that body burst' into howls of laughtor. Thoy know tho humbug that underlay tho offorts of tho trust busters to prove to tho country at largo that thoy wore serious in their enterprises. It Is character istic that tho president should stretch his hands in benediction over bluffing for political purposes only." A Strong Defense. In Its reply to tho petition filed by the fed eral government, tho Northern Securities com pany maintains that its opera tions aro not in violation of tno Sherman anti-trust act and in support of its claim shows "that since tho passago of that act other railway companies have acquired by purchaso and lease parallel and competing lines, frequently under legislative sanction; that theso facts have been reported to tho interstate com merco commission and by tho commission to con gress; that the universal, popular and legislative construction of the Sherman act has been that such railway transaction are not in violation of anti-trust law." The Lincoln Star, a republican paper, in its head-lines over this report sum marizes the defense of tho Securities company in this way: "Tho Others Did and Why Can't Wo?" That is the defense In a nutshell; and if that could bo regarded as sufficient defense, it would acquit every representative of special interests of any violation of the law under a republican adminis tration. Tho St. Louis Globe-Democrat, a republican paper, says: ' "The United States is suffering from " a great coal hold-up, with tho otner parties responsible for It not yet Hold Identified. Coal barons and Ups. railroads standing in with them have produced an intolerable sit uation. The big strike of last year was largely manipulated. Fortunately, the winter is nearly over and there will bo time to study moans of relief. The people are especially disgusted with coal trusts and corners. They havo been plun dered .and oppressed beyond the lino of endur ance and demand to bo protected by effective government and legislative measures." But the Globe-Democrat must remember that the people of tho United States are suffering from other "hold-ups" and that the men responsible for theso "hold-ups" havo produced an intolerable sit uation. If the people have been plundered and oppressed beyond tho lino of endurance, why does not tho- national administration provido tho peo ple with relief; and if the people demand to bo protected by an effective government and legisla tive measures, how does it happen that this de mand has fallen upon deaf ears so far as con cerns action by the republican attorney general? A Horrible Example. Tho St Louis Republic says: "Tho plain fact of the situation is that tho national managers of tho republican party have al lowed themselves to becomo overbold in their disregard or American public sentiment They feel that their machine la so firmly Intrenched in control of the government that it can venture to govern for the trusts and tho privileged classes in general at the utter sac rifice of tho rights of the many. They count upon tho potency of a big. campaign slush-fund supplied by the trusts, and upon the influence exerted by these monopoly organizations in con trolling the votes of hundreds of thousands of em ployes, to hold the republican party secure in power. This is the explanation of an arrogance which has now reached the- point of frank con tempt for tho popular will." These are facta well stated. Let us hope that the democratic par ty will never yield to the temptation to display a similar disregard of American public sentiment And this being the situation of tho republican party, of what value is tho argument that in order to win victory the democratic party should adopt the habits of the republican party? i i -I 3 i atoftt-jhftawigiw tfttfftitw