' tfv - tm;
The Commoner.
IUNE 19, 1903.
In his speech at Springfield, Mr. Roosevelt
laid: "The supremo safety of our country is to
be found in the fearloss and
The honest administration of tho law
Supreme of the land." That is very well
Safety. Put Now win tho PresIdcnt
undertake the fearless and hon
est enforcement of tho criminal clause of tho
anti-trust law?
A Grand Rapids jury has decided that a man
iwho tried to bribe an alderman did it "as a
joke," and tho Detroit Free
How - Press Is unkind enough to say:
to Tako '"lais will be a comforting ver-
a Joke. dict t0 lobbyists in general, for
the average common council as
full of men with a "keen senso of humor who will
fcnow how txrtako a joke."
A Now York newspaper suggests that If Gro
wer Cleveland is not nominat-1 by "tho regular
nominating process of tho dem-
A ocratic party," that he become
Great the nominee c. the indepen-
Party. dents. Why not let him becomo
the nominee of that great and
powerful political organization known as the
Palmer and Buckner party of Indianapolis, tho
party that distinguished itself by carrying one
precinct in the election of 1896?
In every precinct a democratic club should be
Organized whoso members are pledged to the de
" fense of the .tvansas City plat-
Organize form and who will see to it
that delegates are chosen to
represent them in conventions
who will be true to the inter
ests of the people and faithful to democratic doc
trine. As rapidly as these clubs aro" organjzed
the fact of the organization should be reported to
this office. Upon application The Commoner will
furnish a form of constitution and membership
blanks.
In his address ' before the Ohio republican
state convention, Mr. Hanna made it very plain
that if he uad anything to do
Mr. with ..the policio of the repub
lican party, 'the mgley tamf
Plan aw wol"d remain as it Is to
day, the shelter which the trusts
find in that tariff would not be Interfered witn,
and the republican party, aided and abetted by
its prosperous beneficiaries, the trust magnates,
would "keep on letting well enough alone." And
it Is very likely that Mr. Hanna i have some
thing to do with the policies of the republican
party.
The several indorsements Mr. Roosevelt has
received by republican conventions in 1903 do
not nece' amy mean that there
May be will be no opposition to Mr.
Not Roosevelt's candidacy In the re-
Durable, puuncan fonventior. of 1904. In
fact, it is by no means certain
that the state conventions of 1904 will be gov
erned by the sentiment prevailing in the con
ventions of 1903. The Washington Star puts
the case in a nutshell when it says: "President
Roosevelt has received several indorsements
which are not accompanied by any guarantees
of durability."
Democratic
Clubs.
' Hanna' s
Citizens
and
"Citizens."
Because a southern paper declared that tho
negro has no citizenship in Alabama, the New
York Tribune indignantly pro
tests and quotes from the con
stitution that "all persons born
or naturalized in tne United
States and subject to tho juris
diction thereof are citizens of the United States
and the state wherein they reside." Would it not
be well for the Tribune 'to save some of its in
dignation for the republican policy wherebytho
people of our new possessions being subject to
the jurisdiction of the United States aro in one
instance "citizens of Porto Rico," and in another
"citizens of the Philippines?"
In his speech at Springfield, 111., Mr. Roose
yelt, saying that "the supreme safety of our coun
try is to be found in fearless
and honest administration of
the law of the lanu," added:
"It makes not the slightest dif
ference whether the offense
against the law takes the form of cunning and
greed on one hand or of physical violence on the
other; in either case the lawbreaker must be held
accountable and the lawbreaking stopped." No
Why
Net
Prosecute?
one will doubt for a moment that all tho power
of tho federal administration will bo used against
lawbreakers who aro without lnfluenco, but tho
president must know that most serious offenses
have been committed against law, taking tho
form of cunning and greed; and tho preaidont
does know that his attornoy general has never
yet undertaken to enforce tho very plain provi
sions of the law by placing tho greedy violators
behind tho bars. If It makes not tho slightest
difference, Mr. President, why not enforco tho
criminal clause of tho anti-trust law against tho
powerful and influential trust magnates?
The
"Hands Off"
Slogan.
Sonator Hanna proposes "Hands off" as tha
slogan of tho republican party in its defenso of
tho high protective tariff. Tho
Auea will be eminently pleasing
to tho trust magnates whoso in
terests find suolter in tho re
publican tariff and It mav ho
that this slogan, like other Hanna slogans, will
be acceptable to many thoughtless republicans
who will roll the sweet morsel under their
tongues, unablo to discover the truth that should
be apparent to every intelligent man that the
high protective tariff Is a skillful system devised
for taking money out of tho pockets of tho
many to place It in the pockets of the few.
If democrats lose interest in the struggle to
control the party and tho perpetuation of its
principles, then it will not bo
Put on difficult for tho reorganizes
the with the aid of what one of their
Armour. or6ans called "tho needful
equipment," to frame tho plat
form and choose the candidate. In that event,
it is certain that the platform will bo written to
conform to the interests of tho money power and
that tho candidate will bo a man upon whom tho
financiers may uepend to protect their interests
at the expense of the people. It Is Important,
therefore, that in every precinct In tho United
States democrats organize for the contest that
Is at hand.
Why
Not
Revise?
The Washington correspondent of the Chi
cago Record-Hqrald says that he .has excellent
authority for tho statement that
Mr. Roosevelt "expects the tar
iff to be r -vised by the congress
which Is to meet Immediately
after next year's presidential
campaign." Tnis correspondent says that in Mr.
Roosevelt's opinion "it is ab3uri to talk of long
er delay in readjusting some of the schedules in
accordance with the changed conditions of tho
times and of production." But if it is absurd to
talk of "longer delay," then why have longer de
lay? Why put off, until the congress following
the presidential election, a work which could and
should be done prior to the presidential election?
In a speech at Tacoma, Mr. Roosevelt said:
"I want you to understand that I would like to
be president again, but I would
Whole far rather be a whole president
and for three years than half a
Half. president for seven years. Re
member that" All right, we
will remember that; and Mr. Roosevelt In his
turn might remember that ho will not have been
"a whole president," even for three years, if he
does not employ the power within his reach to
strike down the iniquitous trust systemunder
which the consumers of this country are strug
gling. If Mr. Roosevelt really hopes to prove
that ho is "a whole president," let him enforce
the whole anti-trust law against the whole trust
system.
That it does not alwayc pay to appear too
independent, especially in a court room, is a fact
wen illustrated by a story told
by the ivansas City Star. A
former Missounan is now serv
ing as a judge in Oiviahoma. A
gambler was tried before tho
judge recently and convicted of playing poker.
He appeared in court dressed in a flashy style
and with plenty of money in his pockets, appar
ently unconcerned as to the outcome of his trial.
Looking over his spectacles ' the judge, in a
squeaky voice, said: "Jirn, stand up." The gam
bler obeyed. "Jim, have you got anything to say
before I pass sentence on you?" "No, slr.'fc "Jim,
I'm goin to fine you $50" "All right, judge,"
interrupted the gambler; "here It is in my hip
pocket" "And give you sixty days in jail," con
tinued tho judge. "Now, lool: and see if you've
got that in your hip pocket, too."
A
Bit
Expressive.
Tho nartford Courant, referring to tho fact
that John G. Carlisle Ib to bo ono of the speakera
at a gathorlng In Atlanta, Ga.,
wnen flayfl. ..No mftn jina cycr BVQiQn
and moro effectively for sound mon-
Whcre? ey and tann: reiorm than Air.
f f Carlisle did when ho was tho
leader of his party in tho house of representatives
and during tho campaigns prior to 1896. Had
the democrats of Kentucky remained true to the
fundamental principles of democracy, Mr. Carllalo
would now be put forward by them as tho most
availablo candldato for the party to nominate for
president in 1904." When did Mr. Carlisle speak
for "sound money?" Was it in tho campaign of
1890 when ho denounced bimetallism and defended
tho single gold standard, or was it when as a
member of tho house of representatives he de
nounced the single gold standard and mado hln
famous famlno and pestilence speech In con
demnation of tho "crime of '73?"
Mr. Norman E. Mack has probably discovered
by reading tho reorganizors' criticisms of his
famous harmony letter that
y nothing short of a declaration
Don't by tho domocrajjc party In
Like It. favr of tho single gold stand
ard will suit these people. A
sample of reorganlzcr criticism on Mr. Mack'
letter may bo obtained by roferonce to an edi
torial appearing in tho Philadelphia Record, in
which it was said: "Tho compromise Mr. Mack
suggests In his letter to Mr. Metcalfe Is utterly
impracticable. The very thing that has been de
termined by experience, by popular votes and by
legislation, beginning with tho democratic laws
In 1834, 1837 and 18b3, and ending with the re
publican law of 1900, is that congress cannot de
termine tho relative values of gold and silver.
This is tho doctrine of Thomas Jeff erson that
the ratio of gold to silver 'is a mercantile ques
tion altogether.' Mr. Bryan's notion and Mr.
Mack's notion that it is a legal question Is antl
Jeffersonlan, has been exploded, repudiated and
must bo dropped."
Governor Cummins Is quoted as saying that
ho like? tho Ohio platform and feels that tho
"Iowa idea," as often enun-
lowa's elated by him, has triumphed
Poor by tho adoption of the platform
Comfort. n e Buc'ceyo state. Governor
Cummins bases his delight upon
the clause in which it Is said: "Change In condi
tions and possible benefit of reciprocity may call
for timely readjustment of schedules, but pro
tection as a principle and as a policy must be ad
ministered by tho friends of American prosperity
and must not be sacrificed." A fair Interpreta
tion to be placed upon this claucj Is that read
justment of schedules can be made only through
reciprocity provisions. It will be remembered that
in another clause of tho Ohio platform it is said:
"Wo oppose all attacks upon this (protective)
policy whatever tho pretext" The "Iowa idea'
was represented as a declaration In favor of re
moving from the tariff the shelter which the
trusts find there. There Is not In the Ohio plat
form any reference whatever to this evil and it Is
difficult to understand how Governor Cummins or
any other champion of tho "Iowa Idea" can find
any comfort in that platform.
The Washington Star lays Itself open to the
charge of disloyalty to tho "business Interests"
of the country and faithlessness
to ono with whom all wisdom
must die, when It says: "Mr.
Cockran ought to know that
Mr. Cleveland's nomination In
1892 was not the work of the people, but of
politicians, of party managers. There jiever was
a nomination more distinctly machine-made.
There were politicians against Mr. Cleveland.
Men like Mr. Hill, Mr. Watterson and Mr. Cock
ran, in an aggressive way, and men like Mr. Gor
man and the late Mr. Brice, In a tentative way,
opposed the nomination, and thought It unwise
for the party to commit itself again to that lead
ership. But Mr. Whitney and his cohorts, all
politicians and experts In the game of party man
agement, brought up the Cleveland side and swept
the deck. Tho people really had very little to
say about the matter. A dive into Mr. Whitney'B
black satchel was worth a thousand men. The
present Cleveland boom is quite as little the work
of the people. It was started in New York in
capitalistic circles and for capitalistic purposes.
This is not to say that it has no other support.
But its leading support if i.. and near Wall street,
and It is distinctly the product of Influences lead
ing up to tho trusts."
A
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