ytf'wa
The Commoner,
JANUARY 29, 1904.
MR. BRYAN ON "THE MORAL ISSUE.
99
At the banquet tendered to him by the demo
crats of Nebraska at Lincoln, January 18, upon
rjhis return home from his trip abroad, Mr. Bryan
took for his subject, "The Moral Issue." In re
sponse to the introduction of the toastmaster.
Mr. James Manahan, Mr. Bryan paid a tribute
to his old mend, uenerai victor viiquain, ana
tthen acknowledging the hearty welcome and 'gen-
serous compliments said he felt like tho homely
fgirl who. when her sweetheart called her beauti
ful, retired to iier closet and thanked God that
glove is blind. The following is a brief abstract of
ctAr. Bryan's address:
Instead of talking of concessions and com-
spromises, it is time for honest and aggressive
iction. we are confronted with a condition that
lay well alarm the thoughtful and patriotic. Wo
Lfind corruption everywhere. Voterd are bought
Sat so much per head, representatives In our city
governments are profiting by their positions, and
jvon federal officials are selling their influence.
rhat is the cause? The commercial spirit that
puts a price on everything and resolves every
mestion into "Will it pay?" This commercial-
Ism has given popularity to that theory of gov
ernment which permits the granting- of privileges
tto a favored few and defends the theory by an
attempt to show that the money thus given
directly finds its way back indirectly into the
)ockets of the taxpayers.
We see this theory in operation on every
side. The protective tariff schedules illustrate It
Four financial sysm rests upon it; tho trusts hide
rtljemselves oemnd it, ana imperialists are sub
stituting this theory for the constitution. Is it
utrange that money is used to carry elections?
f a party makes certain classes rich by law, will
It not naturally turn to those classes for contrl-
)utions during the campaign? If congress votes
millions of dollars annually to tariff barons,
money magnates and monopolists, Is it not nat
ural that aldermen should traffic in thG smaller
legislation of a city council? And if officials high
and low use the government as If it wore a pri
vate asset, is it surprising that many Individuals
who aro without official position yiold to tho
temptation to sell tho only political influenco
they have, namely tho ballot? What is tho
remedy? Thero is but one remedy: an appeal to
the moral sense of tho country; an awakening of
tho public conscience.
And how can this appeal be made? Not by
showing a greater desire for tho spoils of office
than for reforms, but by turning a doaf ear to tho
contemptible cry of "Anything to win" and by
announcing an honest and straightforward posi
tion on every public question. If we would appeal
to sincere men, wo must ourselves be sincere,
and our sincerity can 'be shown only by a will
ingness to suffer defeat rather than abandon tho
cause of good government.
Shall wo accept imperialism as an accom
plished fact in order to pleaso thoso who are
willing to indorse "government without tho con
sent" of the governed?" There can be no thought
of' such a surrender, for who would trust us to
deal with other questions if wo prove false, to
the fundamental principles of self-government?
Shall wo change our position on the trust
question in order to secure tho support of . the
trust magnates? Not for a moment can wo con
sider It. Wo want the trust magnates against us,
not for us. Their opposition is proof of our party's
fidelity; their support would cast suspicion upon
us.
Shall we abandon our advocacy of bimetallism
in order to conciliate those who defeated the par
ty in recent campaigns? Never. Some phase of the
money question is always before congress, and ho
ono can predict whon tho coinago phase of tho
money question will again become acute. No re
form of any kind would bo posslblo with tho
money changers in control of tho party.
Shall wo chango our flositlon on tho tariff
question In order to win ovor democrats who are
enjoying tho bonoflts of protection? It Is absurd
,to suggest It, for tho same vicious principle runs
through all of tho abuses from which the peoplo
suffer. And so with the party's position on tho
labor question, on tho election of senators by tho
peoplo, on watered stock, control of corporations
and on othor Issues.
The Kansas City platform is sound in every
plank, and tho first act of tho next democratic
convention should bo to roafflrm it- in its en
tirety, and its next act should bo the addition of
.new planks in harmony with it and covering such
new questions as demand consideration.
Then, the convention should select candi
dates who believo In tho platformcandidates
whoso democracy will not bo an issuo in tha cam
paign and whoso fidelity to democratic principles
will not bo doubted after election. And then tho
committee should announce that it will neither
ask nor recoivo campaign contributions from
those who are entrenched behind the bulwarks
which wo are attacking. An"d then, let us de
fend our position not upon tho low ground of
dollars and cents, but by showing how republi
can policies violate moral principles and invito
tho punishment that sooner or later overtakes the
wrong-door.
Will 'such a course insure victory? Tho bebt
that our party can do is to deserve victory, and
an appeal to tho conscience of tho American peo
ple is sure to win ultimately and offers the best
promise of immediate success.
decision not to-be a candidate was unalterable, he
fdid not mean it. One may fairly infer from the
.Eagle's statement that Mr. Cleveland was ac
quainted in advance with the character of the
ifoiney speech, and that in tbe light of the fact that
his boomlet was to oe again offered, Mr. uieve
land decided that "he should not, and, therefore,
-would not, be present" According to the Eagle,
"Mr. Cleveland is to maintain "a dignified absten-
sion from political gatherings away from where
r he lives." If the statements quoted from the
' Eagle do not mean that Mr. Cleveland is laying
awake nights indulging in the hope that the
h party which as an official he betrayed, the party
which he deserted during two presidential cam
paigns, will tibhor him by a nomination to the
presidency, then it would be difficult to understand
plain English.
The Trist Lottery. " -
The following editorial, from tho New York
Mail and Express, is a sample of the arguments
. now being circulated through republican papers
' in defense of the trusts:
Three years ago a New York and a Ne
braska democrat made the simultaneous an-
nouncement that in the modern industrial com
. binatioris the young man does not "get a
chance." The distovery was of equal validity
with the accompanying discoveries that "the
gold bugs" were wasting our substance and
"the empire" was coming swiftly down the
pike. All thrt3 contentions have been woe
fully battered by the dvent, none more so
than the presumed disadvantage of -the young
man In an industrial world where the trust
idea i's rife.
The final coup, it may almost be said, is
administered by the appearance of another
young man to relieve a young man of the ac
tive duties of headship in the greatest "trust"
in the world. W. E. Corey, who has been
designated to rerform those managerial func
tions because of the continued ill health of
Charles. M. Schwab, is 36 years old. When
Mr. Schwab was made president of the United
States steel corporation, about three years
ago, he was 38 years old. The other most ac
tive figure in the trust, Mr. George W. Perk
ins, has turned 41. '
Here are three men who when they came
to, the top of the corporation were still
"youths1 according to the Roman definition.
With all their exceptional qualifications, they
would be plodding along during these years
with small returns and a limited outlook In
almost anyv profession they could have chosen,
looking ahead to the years that He on the
shady side of 40 for the full measure of op
portunity and recognition. Their youth and
the circumstance that they began, each, in
his own way, quite at the bottom, and worked
up from grade to grade, have not handicapped
them.
Rather, they have helped them. The high
er the organization and the broader tho scope
of a business enterprise, the keener must bo
its search for energy an.: ability, wherever
they may be found; the more absolute must
bo Its divorce from favor or family influence,
or the mere routine processes of selection that
give the elder man the preference because he
is the elder. A "truBt" run by a family, as
certain conservative and retrograding busl-
' nesses are in England, or carried along with
no other momentum than tho experience of tho
veteran, would not keep its vast operations to
gether, much less meet the competition of
rivals.
Here are three, young men drawing large sal
aries from a trust; but what about the men who
were at the head of th'e independent companies
before the consolidation? It is truo that tho
trust enlarges the salaries and the opportunities
of a few men at the top, but if; does so by crush
ing the hopes and destroying the independence of
a much larger number. As well defend an un
limited monarchy on the ground that it gives
great power and a huge income to one man, re
gardless of the fact that it makes subjects of all
the jest.
The trust is an industrial monarchy; it rule3
with an iron rod and sacrifices the multitude for
tho advancement of a small minority.
The trust may also be likened to a lottery In
which a few draw large prizes, while the vast
majority draw blanks. And it is not a fair lot
tery either, because ta drawing is manipulated
for tho profit of the ones in charge.. The article
above quoted is in line with the policy of the re
publican papers. They are trying to prepare the
public mind to acquiesce in the do nothing policy
of the administration. They occupy their time,
now asserting that the republican party' will kill
the trusts, now praising the trust as a beneficent
Institution. How long can the people be de
ceived by such double dealing?
JJJ
Radically Different.
" A -dispatch to tho Lincoln (Neb.) Star under
date of Washington, January 21, quotes a reor
ganizer as saying that the reorganizers will cap
ture the democratio national convention. Refer-
ring to Mr. Bryan, this particular rcorganizer said:
"If ho stays with us, ho will get a platform that
will bo radically different from anything ho has
ever had before, and which will insure the return
to the polls of tho old conservatives whom he,
drove out of the party. We hope to have a nomi
nee of the same sort."
"Radically different from anything ever had
before" may servo to open the eyes of some demo
crats who have been blind to the purpose of the
reorganizers. That reans, briefly stated, the re
publicanlzation of thcVpocratlc party; and "a
nominee of tho same sort& 'cans a nominee who,
in tho ovent of election, wm servo the representa
tives of special Interests just as faithfully as those
interests have been served by the republican par
ty, just as faithfully as those interests were
served during the second administration of Gro
ver Cleveland. .
Thoroughly .appreciating tho dangers to the
democratic party and to tho country involved in
this plan of reorganization, Tho Commoner Intends
to do Its part to protect tho party from the hands
of those who would destroy Its principles, thus
making the party organiza'tlon ineffective as an
.instrument operating in behalf of public Interests.
s-' Commoner readers aro therefore invited to
co-operate in the effort to increase The Com-
moner'g circulation and thereby widen its sphere
of influenco. The special subscription offer pro'
vides means for this co-operation. This offer Is
similar to the lots of five plan adopted last year.
Cards, each good for one year's subscription to
The Commoner, will be furnished In lots of flya
' at the rate of $3 per lot. This places the yearly
subscription rate at GO ce-Us.
Any one ordering the cards may sell then
for $1 each, thus earning a commission of $2 on)
each lot sold, or ho may sell them at the cost
? price and find compensation in tho fact that hql
has contributed to the effort to widen The Com
moner's sphere of influence.
These cards may be paid for when ordered oijf
they may be ordered and remlttancomade aftetf
they have been sold. .r
A coupon is printed onrtWpP for the conven
ience of those who are wlrffng to assist in tho
- coming contest.
A Slow Traveler.
A republican exchange nays Mr. 'Knox haa
"niado more,, progress In bursting the trust's than
any of his predecessors. But oven this is not i.
compliment to Knox. At his present rate of
progress Mr. Knox would not get far enough in
. a thousand years to be out of reaching distance of
vhis starting point.
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