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The Commoner.
3
JULY 17, 1003.
MWWII
bonds. Wo are receiving from shrewd business
men from the large trading centers, monthly or
ders for certlflca.es, they claiming that the in
vestment is safer and the possibilty of largo gain
greater than investment in bonds, life insuranco
or any of the speculative stocks offered on the
boards of trado in the various commercial cen
ters. Most of them purchase certificates syste
matically, that Is, send in every month for from
one to five dollars' worth. Almost every ono
can economize a few cents a day, and the funds
thus saved can re invested in certificates, and
with a hundred or more certificates in your pos
session you are likely to wake up some morn
ing and find yourself tho lucky possessor of ah
independent fortune. It hardly seems reason
able that with a hundred certificates ono could
miss ALL of the 1,889 prizes."
Please let me know whether the department
has issued any order on the subject and whether
or not such a contest is regarded as a violation
of tho anti-lottery laws. Yours truly,
W. J. BRYAN.
V
The Answer.
Office of the Assistant Attorney General for
the Postofllce Department, Washington, D. C,
June 23, 1903. Your communication of the 10th
inst. addressed to the postmaster general, sub
mitting a circular of the World's Fair Contest
company, Saint Louis, Missouri, and expressing
the view that the prize scheme advertised therein
is a lottery, has 'been referred to this office.
It is unquestionable that the effect upon the
public of these so-called gvesslng contests con
sidering tho elaborate plan upon which they aro
operated, the very large prizes offered, etc. is al
most as pernicious as that of ordinary lotteries,
and it Is the disposition of the postoffico depart
ment to scrutinize very carefully all such schemes
and to deny them the use of the United States
mails where authority of law can be found for so
doing. You of course understand, however, that in
all such cases the department must be governed
by decisions of the federal courts and opinions of
law officers of the government.
In this connection your attention is directed
to the opinion of Attorney General Miller, 19
Opinions of Attys-Gen. 679; opinion of Attorney
General Griggs, 23 Opinions of Attys-Gen. 207;
opinion of Attorney General Knox, 23 Opinions of
Attys-Gen. 492; and to the t:cison of the United
States circuit co rt for the southern district of
New York, in United States vs. Rosenblum, set
forth in the inclosed circular.
From a consideration of the authorities abovo
cited you will observe that the scheme to which
you call attention is beyond the reach of - tho
postofllce department, unless it 'shall develop that
fraud is being practiced in its operation. Very,
respectfully, - C. H. ROBB,
Assistant Attorney General for the Postoffico
department.
Hon. William J. Bryan, Lincoln, Neb.
JJJ ",
An Interesting Dispute.
Rev. Newell Dwight Hillis of the Plymouth
church, Brooklyn, and Senator Chauncey Depew
are engaged in an interesting dispute as to the ef
fect of great wealth. Dr. Hillis said in a sermon
recently:
"I want to say that vo will all go to tho
devil on $50,000 a year at least a great many
men I know are going to the devil on that
sum and very few are escapirg it Once a
man has an income of that much . money a
year, he is apt to forget, in the same way that
a man forgets to say grace after ho has dined.
"Today we are raising pampered sons and
daughters, surrounding them with every lux-
' ury and idle satisfaction of the decado and
k they are rotten before they are ripe. I re-
- peat it they are rotten before they are ripe
and the boys in many cases are sinful before
they are bearded.
"They practice the 'sn commandments
with the 'shall nots' left out and I warn them
that in the future they will find that God and
nature practice the ten commandments, but
the 'shall nots' are left in.
"I cannot pick up a paper, but that I sea
' tho '400' of this city engaged in divorce Buits.
"I tremble for my country when all the
work the preacher does :.fc ono end in mar
rying the judge undoes U the other end in
the divorcecourt
"If the women of my congregation who
' are suffering with nervous prostration had
the will power to take nine out of every ten
of their froclis into the. back yard and burn
them, I do not think thoy would longer be
troubled with their nervous prostration."
This is pretty strong languag- for the "pastor
of a prominent i.rw York church, and no ono who
is familiar with t!io situation can doubt that there
is truth in what he says.
Now comes Senator Chauncey Depew with
his reply. Ho says:
"It all amounts to this: Whether a man
has, first, an inclination to go to tho devil;
or, secondly, will power onough to resist tho
temptations to take him thore. If a man pos
sesses tno first or lacks the second condition,
he can just as well go to tho devil on $10,000
a year as on so0,000."
Ho then goes on to argue that tho sons of
tho very rich are less liable to dissipation than
tho sons of families of moderate means who come
in from tho country. Tho trouble with Senator
Depew's argument is that he does not give enough
consideration to his second proposition. Very
few men havo an inclination to go to the devil;
tho great trouble is that they yiold to temptation,
and tho temptat.ons that como to those who aro
idle are greater than tho temptations that como
to those who are necessarily occupied.
The divorce suits that seem to be so frequent
among the "400" aro largel duo to the fact that
having no useful employment and spending their
time in the search of pleasure thoy fail to find
any real enjoyment at homo or anywhere else. The
temptations of such a life are not only greater
than tho temptations that como to those who30
hands and thoughts aro occupied, but tho strength
to resist temptation is also weakened by high
living.
JJJ
Reed's Fortune.
The following item concerning the value of
ex-Speaker Reed's estate appears In tho press dis
patches: Tho report filed by tho appraisers ap
pointed by the surrogate's court to value tho
estate left by Thomas B. Reed, once speaker
of the house of representatives, and for some
years prior to his death practicing law in
this city, shows that Mr. Reed left a personal
estate valued at $431,099, after provision had
been made for the payment of debts and tho
expenses of the administration of the prop
erty. The gross personalty amounted to
?G29,533.
The principal items comprising tho estate,
which consists chiefly of i ocl.s and securities,
are: 9U0 shares of Northern Securities, val
ued at $95,850; 200 shares of American Car
and Foundry company, preferred, $77,800;
1,000 shares of American Smelting and Refin
ing company, $38,000; 600 shares of Metropoli
tan Securities company, $18,187; 1,200 shares
of Metropolitan Street Railway, $167,250; 400
shares of Brooklyn Union Gas company, $90,
. 000, and 100 shares Great Northern Paper
company, $100,00U.
Mr. Reed died last December. By his
will ho left any propertr he waB possessed
of to his widow. His will was executed many
years before 1.1s death.
Mr. Reed's investments sfc.w that he did not
entertain any prejudice against the trusts. Well,
he did not show any prejudice againct the cor
porations during his speakership. In fact, whila
he differed from tne republican leaders on the
question of imperialism, he was in hearty sym
pathy with thom on all questions effecting cor
porations and monopolies.
Tho report does not explain how Mr. Reed
accumulated so much, or t, nether the accumula
tion occurred during his memLorship in congress
or afterwards. If the source of bis income, as
well as the amount of his estate, had been given,
the public could better judge whether his fortun9
was due to tho practice of economy while ho was
drawing $5,000 a year, or to the literary and pro
fessional work since he retired, or to speculation.
rrr
The Tariff Logicians.
The St Louis Star has attempted to explain
how a tariff on manufactured products makes
manufactured products cheaper by stimulating
competition and at the same time makes wheat
dearer by preventing competition. But its ex
planations are as lame as tho explanations of the
protectionists usually are. The price of wheat is
fixed abroad. Whether the farmer sells to tho
miller In his home state or to the miller in Eu
rope he geta the foreign price less carriage and
commissions. The republicans try to show that
a tariff on wheat raises tho prico of the farmer'
wheat and then they try to show the farmer that
a tariff lowors the- prlco of manufactured prod
ucts. They make tho same argument In regard
to wool. Thoy do not put tho arguments side by
side, but In tho course of tho same speech they
will assert that a tariff on wool raises the price
of wool and that a tariff on tho goods made out
of tho same wool lowers tin prlco of tho goods.
Thoy mako these contradictory arguments not be
causo thero Is any truth in them, but because
thoy havo to dccelvo the farmer. The manufac
turers understand the necessity for such argu
ments and overlook thorn, but republican farm
ers aro expected to accept them at their face
value.
rer
Slavery in the Philippines.
The Buffalo Expross comments upon the new
government to bo established among tho Moros
and says that "tho now council will be authorized
to abolish slavery," and it adds: "This If not
only a confession that slavery has continued to
oxist under thd American flag, but apparently thore
has not oven been authority to nbollBh it hither
to." The Express then proceeds to quote the
constitution on tho subject and says:
"Not all tho advantage which tho pos
session of tho Philippines can possibly bring
to tho United States could offset tho harm
done by this demonstration that tho military
powor can violate tho most explicit and es
sential clauses of tho constitution with im
punity." The Express ought to have learned before
this that colonies nro govorncd outside of the
constitution and that It is 'Ms very thing that
tho democratic party has boon objecting to.
JJJ
A Warning From Wealth.
The Now York Post recently printed
an editorial entitled "Monopoly and So
cialism." The editor of tho Post speaks of the
action of tho socialists in hailing "a leading Wall
street organizer as a fellow-worker in a good
cause," and points out that thero is really more
truth than irony in it Tho extortion of gas,
water and lighting companies did moro to accel
erate tho movement in favor of municipal owner
ship than all the abstract arguments that could
have been made. And so Morgan, Hill and other
railroad magnates have done moro to create the
sentiment in favor of tho government ownership
of railroads than either tho populist or tho so
cialist party. Tho Post points tho truth none too
strongly when It says:
"Tho destroyers of competition aro the
real enemies of our existing social system. It
Is they that Individualists havo to dread moro
than tho street-corner orator, or the peddler
of socialistic literature, or tho foreign en
thusiasts who have como hero to organize
American workingmen for the coming revolu
tion. Those republican senators who are so
disturbed at the growth of the socialist voto
y would do well to look first to some of their
own associates and their own methods. Ev
' ery man who works to create a monopoly or
who, in its name, exacts the uttermost farth
ing, Is the most dangerous propagator of so-
clalism known today."
It Is time that tho republicans who have been
blindly following their leaders should consider
the question: "Is competition an evil or a good?"
They cannot support monopolies without believ
ing that competition Is an evil, and the moment
they decide that a monopoly Is good they are
face to face with a choice between a government
monopoly and a private monopoly.
On the other hand, if tho republicans decide
that competition is good, then they must exert
themselves to protect it, for competition Is being
fast destroyed by organized and concentrated
wealth. Tho democratic party has declared that
private monopolies are Indefensible and intoler
able; will the republicans take the samo posi
tion, or will they hasten the issue between public
and private monopolies by permitting the Indus
tries of the country to bo gathered into a few
hands?
The democratic party has been the champion
of competition where competition is possible, but
it can never be the champion of private monop
olies, for to champion private monopolies would
simply bo to turn the people over to the tender
mercies of the greedy and the avaricious.
When a paper like the Post, a thick and thin
advocate of the moneyed classes, begins to see
danger in the rapid growth toward private monop
olies it is time that the republican organs in the
rural districts sound a warning to their party.
SKfJl
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