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The Commoner.
WILLIAH J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
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JrrjK.,
Vol. 3. No. 16.
Lincoln, Nebraska, May 8, 1903.
Whole No. 120.
THE ATTACK ON STONE
It Is a pity that all the democrats of the coun
try, and the republicans as well, could not have
heard the speech delivered by Senator Stone be
fore the Missouri Press association at Kansas
City a few days ago. The republican papers had
"been so malicious and so mendacious in their
attacks upon him that he took advantage of the
occasion to make a reply to their misrepresenta
tions. Ho had been accused of securing the pass
age of a bill prphiblting the use of alum in tho
manufacture of food products, and the more par
tisan of the papers even insinuated that he was
trying to avoid testifying before the grand jury
In the bribery cases now pending. The facta
as presented by Mr. Stone are, first, that he
never knew of the passage of the anti-alum bill
until a year after it became a law. He was then
practicing law in Missouri, and was employed to
prosecute certain parties charged with a viola
tion of the law. During the Investigation of this
case he learned of the testimony before a con
gressional commission In regard to tho effect of
alum on the health. He learned that the sub
ject had- been investigated, and that, according to
the, testimony of the representatives of nearly all
of the state universities and larger colleges, the.
iise ""of 'alum ' lir '-foott' Vo'ducfe isiffjuVfbus to'
health; He learned that Qur government prohibits
its use in food furnished for tho soldiers, and
that other governments have taken similar ac
tion. When, in the spring of 1901, a" bill was in
troduced to repeal the anti-alum statute, he pre
pared a brief on tbe subject, reviewing the testi
mony given by scientists, and arguing that, if that
testimony was true, the law should not be re
pealed, adding that if any modification of the
law was thought desirable it ought at least to
be made compulsory upon those using alum to
so state on the packages containing the prepared
food. This brief was mailed to the members of
the legislature. Mr. Stone did notvlsit the
capital; did not speak to any legislator on the sub
ject, and did not write to any, the mailing of this
brief being tho only part that he took in the
matter.
When one knows of the facts in this case
and then reads the venomous attacks made upon
Senator Stone by the corporation papers, he un
derstands how much Senator Stone is feared.
The- republican party has on numerous occa
sions sent to the United States senate men who
had for a period of years made their headquar
ters at state capitals and lobbied in behalf of
the railroads; it has now in congress men
who are pecuniarily interested in the exploitation
of the Philippine islands, and who in their offi--cial
capacity pass upon measures that vitally af
- feet their business enterprises. The republicans
at one time voted for a presidential candidate
who was shown to have received f 5,000 as a fee
from a company that had business before his com
mittee, when he was a member of congress, and
yet these same republicans ire horrified to think
that a private citizen, not an official, acting as an
attorney, should prosecute suits under a statute
of the state, or prepare a written brief upon a sub
ject before the legislature.
. Governor Stone has arQused- the anger of the
great corporations because ho has attacked the
'influences that dominate tho republican par
ty in state and nation; he has angered tho me
tropolitan papers because he has exposed their
subserviency to organized wealth, and ho is now
made the victim of their constant assaults. He
has been a prosecuting attorney, a congressman
'and a governor, and no one has been able fo
point to an act in his official career that wa3 open
to criticism. Baffled In their attempt to find a
flaw in his official record his enemies seize upon
and misrepresent a transaction in which, while
a private citizen, ho appeared as an attorney.
The courage with which Senator Stone has at
tacked corruption and thos.e wno have 'been
guilty of it, is in itself proof that thero is noth
ing in his life that can be exposed to his detri
ment The moral courage which ho has shown
can jonly rest upon a consciousness of moral con
ducta guilty conscience makes men cowardly.
ORGANIZE!
The only hopo the reorganlzers may have to
obtain control of the democratic party Is in the
, indifference of the rank and file. "
IMekJ&a .the .struggle for
the control of the party and the perpetuation of
Its principles, then It will not be difficult for the .
reorganlzers, with the aid of what one of their
organs called "the needful equipment," to frame
the platform and choose the candidate. In that
event, it Is, of course, certain that the plat
form would bo written to conform to tho inter
ests of the money power and that tho candidate
would bo a man upon whom the financiers might
depend to protect their interests at the expense of
the people.
It Is Important, therefore, that In every pre
cinct in the United States democrats organize for
the' contest that Is at hand.
In every precinct a democratic club should
be organized whose members are pledged to the
defense of the Kansas City platform and who
will see to It that delegates chosen to represent
them In conventions are true to the interests of
the people and faithful to democratic doctrines.
As rapidly as these clubs are organized, the
fact of their organization should bo reported to
The Commoner. Upon application The Commoner
will furnish a form of constitution and member
ship blanks. The work of organization is prog
ressing at a gratifying rate. All that is neces
sary is for every one who believes that the demo
cratic party should take no backward step to
make it his duty to immediately do hispart In
tho work of organization.
JJJ
An "Organ V Monopoly.
Leslie's Weekly refers to the editor of The
Commoner as "the Nebraska. grafter;" also as
"Nebraska's political wart." Can any one now
" doubt that Leslie's Weekly represents an element
having a monopoly upon intelligence, patriotism
and general virtues?
MAYOR TOM L JOHNSON
Among tho prominent democrats of tho coun
try who have boon mentioned In connection with
prosldcntialhonors none has been mentioned with
more frequency than Mayor Tom L. Johnson,
thrlco elected mayor of Cleveland, O. Ho Is a
democrat who has always boon loyal, always a
hard worker in tho party, and always a virile
leador in reforms demanded by tho people. The
Johnstown (Pa.) Domocrat, one of tho strongest
democratic dallies in tho country, edited by War
ren Worth Bailey, speaks of Mayor Johnson in
the following words:
"If nothing more than ability to carry elec
tions wore to bo tho test of fitness, Johnson would
measure up to tho full standard. Ho is tho only
democrat of national reputation who has In re
cent years been able to wrest victory from the
clutch of hopeless conditions; victory, not for
. himself alone, but for his party also.
"Two years ago ho became mayor of Clove
land. It was not by bargaining with tho repub
lican politicians and corporation magnates of that
republican city, as his 'democratic' predecessor
had done, but by fighting them with radically
democratic policies in an open campaign. He
appealed to the people and won: thenrover'ttf his
side. Six months later ho secured a democratic
victory in Cuyahoga county, until then a repub
lican Btronghold, and seated In tho legislature the
first democratic delegation that had gone from
that county in forty years or more, Whon a year
had rolled around ho led the party to victory In
a municipal election in Cleveland, in which he
was not himself a candidate. In another six
months ho was leading tho state campaign for his
party In northern Ohio, where ho Increased the
democratic vote by 10,000; without counting
Cuyahoga county, which he carried for the state
ticket by 2,500, the city of Cleveland responded
with a plurality of 5,000. And now, after only
two years of leadership, ho not only secures hU
own re-election as mayor, but establishes his par
ty completely and overwhelmingly in power in a
city which has never before been regarded as
democratic. On the mere basis of vote-attracting
ability, no present aspirant for the democratic
nomination for president can compare with John
son. "But that Is the least of his qualifications.
Both his administration as mayor and his meth
ods of party leadership have proved him to bo a
democratic statesman of the purest and ablest
typo. When he came Into tho office of mayor of
Cleveland two years ago that city was under the
. government of what Is known as tho federal plm
It was the mayor's duty under this plan to ap
point a cabinet consisting of heads of departments,
and. to supervise their work. Thero were but
few men who had been tested in public office whom
he could select for appointments. Most of the
tried officeholders of Cleveland of both partiee
had been found disgracefully wanting. Johnson
was - obliged, therefore, to reorganize the city
. government with untried men, trusting to his
knowledge of human nature to pick out the hon
est ones, and to his business experience and judg
ment to select the capable. He did not fall. From
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