The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, August 12, 1904, Page 4, Image 4
& 'v fcl B &' 4 The Commoner. ISJUGD WEEKLY. Kntorcd at the postoffloe At Llucoln, Ncbmika, a lecoad el&M mail matter. One Year $i.eo Six Months 50c In Clii b ot 5 or more, per year .75 Three Months 304 5lnrleCepy g Sample Coplea Free, Foreign Postage 52c Extra. SUBSCRIPTIONS can be sent direct to Tba Commoner. They can also bo cnt through nowapapers which have adver tised a clubbing rate, or through local agents, whero such agents have been appointed. All remittances should bo Bent by postofllco monoy order, express order, or by bank draft on Now York or Chicago. Do not send individual checks, slampi, or monoy. RENEWALS. Tho dato on yonrvrroppcr shows when your aubjcrlption will expire. Thus, Jan. 81, '05, means that pay mont hai been received to and including tho last issue of Jan uary, 1005. Two weeks araf required after money has been re ceived before tho date on wrapper can bo changed. CHANOB OF ADDRESS. Subscribers requesting a change f address must givo OLD as woll as the NEW address. ADVERTISING rates furnished upon application. Addrese (ill communications to TUB COMMONER, Lincoln, Nek, t 3 Public ownership of railroads would mean no more pass bribery. Tho only argument against an Income tax Is tho argument of selfishness. If lie finds it difficult to raise monoy Chairman Cortelyou might import Raisuli. Port Arthur is falling often enough to arouso suspicion of taking a drop too much. Public ownership of railroads seems to be the solution for railroad ownership of the public. The president took a hand in the coal strike during an "off" year. This is not an "off" year. When the people own tho railroads ..there will be no more giant-trusts built up by the 'rebate system." ' The life preservers on the g. o. p. excursion steamer have every appearance of being General Slocuined. Of course Mr. Folk is not surprised that a large number of republican organs have . bolted his nomination. Tho 30,000 striking cotton operatives should show their dinner pails to the g. o. p. national committee. By the way, did you ever notice the republican loaders objecting to tho trusts being given too much representation? It is barely possible that the chilly Mr. Fair banks was nominated for the purpose of frappeing the top of the ticket. Senator Fairbanks was notified of his nomina tion last week, and the Indianapolis icemen com plained of a dull day. Naturally enough tho big trusts that secure freight rebates from privately owned railroads' op pose railroads owned by the public. That low chuckling sound from tho far oast is doubtless "Gas" Addicks endorsing .the "stand pat" policy of President Roosqvelt. Tho harvester trust has just laid of 15,000 employes. It feared that tho employes might be come spoiled by too much prosperity. J. Plerpont Morgan's yacht tied up at a Now York dock. the other day with three feet of water in lier hold. Mr. Morgan must bo preparing to sell tho yacht to tho general public. Tho Minnesota supremo court has affirmed the decision that market hunters must pay a fine ,of $20,000 for killing 2,000 ducks out of season. Ex-Mayor Ames could givo those market hunt ers some pointers. Thoy should have claimed that it was tho shot, not themselves, that killed the ducks. Ames secured his freedom on a poorer " technicality than that. The Commoner. Of course President Rooscvert uses the word "wo" in tho editorial sense. "Why not Roosevelt?" queries tho Chicago Chronicle. Ono very good reason is that the Chronicle is for Roosevelt. Rudyard Kipling has written a poem favoring Chamberlain's tariff crusade. Tho anti-Chamberlain people seem to have "seen" Rudyard. The striking meat cutters seem to forget that this is the year when the administration must make assessments, not issue injunctions. "If Judge Parker is elected his party will bo master," declares the Sioux City journal. That would be a welcome relief from the rule of the trusts. In view of ex-Governor Black's nominating speech General Sherman Bell should be engaged to do a little rear platforming for the, g. o.p. ticket. Theodore Roosevelt, former iree trader, civil service reformer, ' anti-criminal aggresslonist and trust buster, is making quite a spectacle as a "stand patter." Those union butchers are being censured by republican leaders for insisting upon justice just at a time when a strike would seriously embarass the g. o. p. machine. Chairman Cortelyou is not pointing with prido to the injunction which put the meat trust out of business. That injunction is filed away in tho dust covered archives. President Roosevelt's address to the noti fication committea reminds ono very much of the stuff tho circus advance man hands in to the advertising manager. It is reported that some one nas discovered a bread that is also a first-class substitute for meat. The name of the trust holding the right to manufacture is not given." The coal trust is hoisting prices on tho ex-, cuse that it fears a strike. But the coal trust would have raised the price on the ground that there would be no strike, so what's the odds? Theodore Thomas declares that Milwaukee has no right to the reputation of being a musical center. Mr. Thomas seems to be laboring under a delusion as to what has made Milwaukee-famous. The suggestion that tho packers engineered the strike as a rebuke to Roosevelt is one of the early jokes of the campaign. The packers have nothing to complain of in injunctions that do not enjoin. On August 1 the anthracite trust added 10 cents per ton to the price of their product. The anthracite trust, like the beef trust, thinks that federal injunctions are real pretty ornaments for the parlor table. Perhaps Mr. Carroll D. Wrignt Is busily pre paring figures to show that tho packing house strike is a good thing because the increased price of meat enables those who can not buy -it at any time to save just that much more money. The report that the "zebrula" will replace tho mule as an army adjunct is enough to arouse wide spread opposition. Is it possible that Mr. Roose velt, who was a prominent free trader a few years ago, will stand idly by now and make no protest against the threatened injury to the "infant mule" industry? Tho ant. called the Kelep, Imported from Guatamala is said to bo making a successrul fight against tho boll-weevil, much to tho relief of tho cotton growers. Can't Uncle Sam find something that will exterminate imperialism and thus relieve the whole country from tho burden of a large army and a large navy? Mr. Roosevelt considered tho Panamans com petent to practice self-government inside of twenty-four, liours. He points with pride to the fact that the Cubans were granted self-government after eighteen months of practice. He infers that tho Filipinos will have to practice for self-gov-ornment until the oriental trade is worthless and then perhaps they may have it ' ' VOLUME 4, NUMBER 30 ' '.. When President Roosovelt pointed with nru to what tho republican party has done for Sin service, Byrne, Lou Payne and Postmaster Genp Payne solemnly winked their left optics and S dreamily across tho waters of Oyster Bay. Well, private life has its advantages after mi While the eminent jurist of Esopus, the distin guished soldier of Oyster Bay, the renowned hiV torian of Georgia and tho illustrious publicist of Pennsylvania, are hiding from camera fiends and dodging the ubiquitious newspaper correspondent the obscuro and tho "ex's" "far from the mad d'ning throng" keep tho "noiseless tenor" of their way. Hcls It Any Facts To Give Them? The Philadelphia Inquirer, which evidently prefers being republican to being either right or uj..y, uys; -me wage earn er who would give up a per cent of his salary for the sake of a lower tariff is a mighty scarce individual," Has the Inquirer over compared the proposed scale of the Fall River operators with tho scale paid in Manches ter? Has the Inquirer ever taken note of the fact that the average wage of the striking pack ing house men is less than $7 a week? Perhaps the .Inquirer has some figures and facts which will convince these striking spinners and butchers that the protective tariff is a wonderful benefit to them, and of no particular account to the meat trust and the cotton print trust. Roosevelt vs. Roosevelt. "We have made the deed square with the word," said President Roosevelt to the notilica- tion committee. But what about the words of President Roose velt? In answer let President Roosevelt be put upon the wit ness stand. Mr. President, what. did you say in a recent message to congress con cerning corruption in public office? "I said, 'While " there may have been as much official corruption in former years there has been more developed and brought to light in the immediate past than in the preceding, century of our country's his tory.' And what did you say to the notification committee, Mr. President, concerning this same subject? "1" saidi 'Never has the administration of the government been on a cleaner and higher level; never has the .public work of the nation been done more honestly, and. efficiently.' " Com ment is unnecessary at this time. Take the wit ness, Mr. Cortelyou. The Wreck Of The Medne. The wreck of the battleship Maine still ob structs navigation in the ha'rbor at Havana, and tne navy department noias mat it has no authority either to abandon the wreck or to auth orize its removal. A private company has contracted to re move the wreck providing the government will relinquish claim to it, the company -expecting to be remunerated by the salvage and by exhibiting the remnants. But the government will not do this, nor will it pay to have it removed. ' Cuba declines to act without being assured that its 'action will be acceptable to Uncle Sam. As the matter now stands the wreck will have to remain there, a striking object lesson In governmental red tape. Dicken's "circumlocation office" should have its attention called to tho situation. Per haps it could act before the navy department gets into motion. Mr. Carroll D. Wright has issued another job lot of figures for the use of the republican ,, national committee. Mr. Wright The Wrong declares that since 1896-97 there Figures of has been an increase in the re Mr Wright tail Prlce of commodities of 15.o b per cent, while during the same period there has been an increase of wages aver aging 16.G per cent. It is by juggling averages that Mr. Wright reaches these conclusions. Here is a sample which may show his method: The section hand's wages have been $300 a year for years. The railroad president's salary was raised from $50,000 a year to $75,000 a year on June 1, 1903. The average was $26,150 a year before the president secured his increase, and $37,650 after he secured it an averago increase of about 50 per cent. But the section hand has not found it out. Again: Meat, flour, clothing and shoos have increased say 30 per cent during tho last five years. But spices, pepper, perfumery and talcum powder have decreased 27 per cent. This shows an average Increase of 3 per cent. Then Mr. Wright proceeds to show that wages have increased 47 per cent faster than tho cost of commodities,1 It is all very simple when it is carefully examined... 'HHM 4 t- EHM! tv W t 1th". a i . .V. L'ZJfe VJf -' ." j.t'M . ,. -.M . . -ft