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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?
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