Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1904)
, .,- pri"-jT 4" J ' H.v li - house association voted Its certificates to banlcS in (Uocd oil assistance ,. Tho Boston clearing houso association did ,tho , samo thing November 17. Barkor Bros. & Co., big bankers in lJhiladolphia, suspended at that timo, with liabilities placed at $5,000,000. November 10, 1890, there was a run on tho Oltizons' b'avings bank of New York, and a re ceiver was appointed for the. North River bank. November 22, 1890, the United Rolling Stock company of Chicago assigned, with liabilities at $6,851,000. November 28, 1890, B. K. Jamieson & Co., tho Philadelphia bankers, failed', with liabilities at $2,000,000. Docember G, 1890, tho Oliver iron and steel mills of Pittsburg shut down, discharging 2,000 omploycs On tho samo date the cotton iirm of Mycr & Co. of New Orleans failed, with liabilities at $2,000,000. January 3, 1891, tho Scottdale rolling mills and pike works and the Charlotte furnace and coke works in Pennsylvania closed, throwing 10,000 employes out of work. January 18, 1891, "the American National bank at Kansas City suspended, with liabilities at $2r 250,000. " May 8, 1891, tUo Spring Gardon National bank 'at Philadelphia closed its doors, and the Pennsyl vania Safe Deposit and Trust company made an as signment. ' -The Homestead strike and other strikes during 1892 are woll remembered by the people. -Grovor Cleveland was inaugurated March 4, 1893. In May, 1893, S. E. White and others sus pended in New York. Tho Chemical bank of Chicago and its branches suspended. Other fail ures .followed and finally tho famous raids on the United States treasury were made. January 17, 1894, the Cleveland administration ordered a $50,000,000 bond issue. August 1, 1894, the Wilson tariff law went into effect. It is admitted by everyone familiar with tho facts that President Harrispn's administration had plates prepared for the bonds and Mr. Harrison's secretary of the treasury made a visit to New York for the purpose of negotiating the bond deal. He was wired by Mr. Harrison to return to Washing ton. Mr. Harrison said that he had' concluded not . t9 have any bond issues under his administiation arid in order to avoid the stigma the Harrison administration warded off the bond issue and tin loaded it on the incoming Cleveland administra tion. It will be observed that tho Cleveland admin istration ordered the $50,000,000 bond issue Jan uary. 17, 1894. That was seven months beore the Wilson bill became, a law. Perhaps it is not significant, but in view of Mr. Roosevelt's claim, it is at least interesting, that the first indications of tho panic occurred Nov. 11, 1890, a little more than 30 days after tho McKinley tariff bill became a law. From that date tho panic raged, and while its effects were felt for several years it reached its worst stage in 1893 and during the early days of 1894, during all of which time the McKinley tariff law was in effect. It may not be out of place to point out that when the democratic administration surrondered' tho reins of government, March 4, 1889, there was in tho federal treasury the largest surplus in history. When the republican party went out of power, March 4, 1893, there was a large deficit and tho incoming administration was finally per suaded to make the bond issues which its repub lican predecessor had at one time thought to be necessary, but had skillfully avoided. JJJ Peabodyism Sherman M. Bell, Colorado's adjutant general, has written for the Now York Herald an interest ing Btory concerning Peabodyism in tho Centennial state. Describing the met nods employed by him- self, General Bell says: "One day I walked over to El Paso, whero some non-union men wore working. There was a follow standing there with Tils hands in his pack ets. I took a side look at him as I went along. Suddenly I turned and jumped right up to him. What are yon doing here?' I asked. 'Just thinklnV ho replied. 'Well, you want to bo Id n careful what you think when J'm around,' I aaid, 'or I'll throw you in.' " ( He further says that when somo of tho 1m . .prisoned minors applied for a writ of- hib.eas ; corpus, ho .(Boll) told them: "That won't do any I good," that what they needed was not habeas; cor pus, but "post raortems." General Bell describes in graphic language the ',' Tlie, "Commoner. , manner in which! ho doffed thq , judge of the state court. Ho says: . . , - "I bluntly told Judge Seeds I was going to lipid these men, and that was all there was to it. He talked a lot 'about the sacredness of the court and tho need of everybody bowin.g , to its decrees. 'That's all very nice says I, 'but who is going to enforce your decrees?' 'The sheriff,' he says, 'tho sheriff has the powor to call on all the able bodied men in. the country to help him,' 'They may bo ablo bodied when thoy start in,' says I, 'but they'll bo disabled before they get through. You just tell the sheriff to, cdmo over. He knows where to find me. But you also tell' him I've ,got the military law beltfnd 'me, the 'soldiers, the guns and the am munition and ,tha,t I'll shoot him and every d d man that trie's to take my prisoners away from me.' Tho judge, saw ho was up against it and tho sheriff didn't comp over. Later on I had another seance with this samo Judge S'eeds, and I says to him, 'Now you just go butting in around here and interfering with military, operations and I'll throw you in and keep you there.' " No sterner indictment of Peabodyism has been brought than that made by Governor Peabody's ad jutant general in describing tho methods he has employed in maintaining what has very properly been designated, as "an official mob." VOLUME 4, NUMBER 26 JJJ An Interesting Deal r Writing for "Everybody's Magazine," Thomas W. Lawson, the Boston financier, describing the methods in the organization of the Amalgamated Copper company, says that Henry H. Rogers and William Rockefeller, borrowed from the city bank $39,000,000. According' to Mr. Lawson, this money was deposited to the credit of the parties of whom certain copper properties had been pur chased. Tho Amalgamated company was organ ized with .a capital of $75,000,000. . That company bought from -Messrs. Rogers arid Rockefeller tho properties in question, giving them therefor all its capital stock Then Bogers and Rockefeller sold the stock kt pat, after having paid the bank the ?39,000,'000 lah,, pocketing a profit of $36,000, 000. It is claimed that the bank referred to con tributed to the' ' success of" the game by offering to make loans on Amalgamated ,at the, r.ate of 90 Cents on the dollar thus giving the "public confidence in shares1 which tho misguided buyers subsequently sold Tor 33 cents on- the dollar, which was the best price obtainable at the time. Commenting upon Mr. Lawson's disclosures, the Chicago Tribune, a republican newspaper, says: It is evident that promoters who are al lowed to' work ' in tlie dark ' are dangerous fellows. . Thoy1 imay., deceive not merely tho fools who are the prey of every sharper but - the very elect, who call themselves sharp business men. There ought to be publicity for their protection. If the facts had been known if it had been understood that the promoters of the com pany were offering for $75,000,000 something which cost-them only $39,000,000 the cau tious public would have been in no haste to invest. The business man would have said: "There is so much money in this for the promoters that there can be none for me." Publicity is unquestionably very desirahle, but if tho only publicity prior to the day of Amalga mated was the sort of publicity suggested by Mr. "Roosevelt's policies, there is little reason to be lieve that the prospective investor or the general public would have been materially protected. Men who are ingenious enough to deceive investors, as investors were deceived according -to Mr. Law son's story of. the Amalgamated Copper company, are sufficiently ingenious to avoid the publicity which Avould protect tho people. It is a bit sig nificant that; in spite of the serious disclosures made of tho shipbuilding trust and in the face of the grave charges made by Thomas W. Lawson, the men who are said to be responsible for these offenses are permitted to pursue the even tenor of their way and are not heW to accountability. The republican administration's campaign of "publicity," like its injunctions against the beef trust, is conspicuous largely because of the fact that while there is considerable noise attending tho effort there is no relief to the public. The house-breaker .need not be greatly concerned when a searchlight isjturned upon him, provided ho, can escape with his tplunder and avoid prosecution It seems to have become the policy of our auth orities to deal very leniently with influential men who filch millions from the public. Thn vh of these plunderers must bo satisfied with court injunctions that do not enjoin and publicity nro yislons that do not reveal, it is significant that ' ' l if'-' the first, noteworthy movement in the republican . party's publicity campaign was the appointment c5 the official charged with tho duty of enforcinc this publicity law to be chairman 'of the ronub lican national committee, a position wherein his first important duty was to levy assessments upon the men against whose machinations the publicity law iB presumed to.be directed. JJJ' Folk and Berge All over the country, men, regardless of polit ical prejudice, ara manifesting deep interest in .'the gubernatorial candidacy of Joseph W. Folk - tof Missouri, tt is a good sign that some rcpubll ' can newspapers in Missouri, as well as in other states, are frankly advising republicans to vote for Mr. Folk. The Kansas City, Mo., Star; a republican paper, referring' to Mr." Folk, says: He is a" democrat and he is a candidate of the democracy because of that fact, but he is asking tho whole people of Missouri to mako him their servant in the executive office. He has gone into republican counties and has ad dressed audiences which were more republi can than democrat. He has already visited the extremes of the state. Nowhere does the tenor of - his argument differ from that made in another section-. He is the candidate of tho whole people and when elected will be the governor for the whole people. The Chicago Tribune, another republican pa .per, says that it is difficult to understand why any .IVHssourian who is himself honest should refuse ,to vote for Mr. Folk. Tho Tribune says that a republican might say to himself that his party, having nominated a candidate, who is an excellent man and who if elected would fight boodling, it .is the republican's duty to give that candidate sup port But the Tribune says that ths republican candidate, if elected, could not make that fight so effectively as Mr. Folk and that the defeat of Folk would mean, he discouragement of honest .methods in pub)ic office. Tho Tribune makes a , strong appeal' to' Missouri republicans to cast their votes for Mr. IJol'k and concludes: t The',' defeat 'in Missouri 'of a man who is conspicuous' because he is an 'anti-corruplion-' 1st will 'dishearten' throughout' the country Jall m'en'who beliovVthat-'aggr'essivo honesty in public life should receive a popular reward. If the honest man in politics has no assur ance of an approving constituency he will get out of politics and let the rascals manage af fairs to suit themselves. The Tribune gives good advice to the repub- - 'licans of Missouri. That paper and other repub lican papers could, with equal propriety, advise the honest republicans in Nebraska to cast their votes for George W. Berge, the fusion nominee for governor of this state. Mr. Berge is admittedly the superior of his ' opponent, so far as personal qualifications for the office go. Unlike his opponent, Mr. Berge is not 1 under the control of corporation influences. He . is a free man and if elected would be able to pro tect the public interests so far as the power of the governor goes. The election of Mr. Folk in Missouri by a large majority will mean much by way of en couragement to faithful public servants. In Ne braska the election of Mr, Berge will mean con siderable to the good people of this state. It win mean a repudiation by 'the people of corporation interference in state affairs. It will mean tue nloofin, 4-V. nIln, V rrniray-nnf nf ft man WHO, although the nominee of the fusion forces, win . recognize that in his official capacity he owes a duty to all the people. JJJ Morgan and His Candidate Several weeks ago tho New York World printed a story concerning an-alleged visit of J. iffj ' pont Morgan to Mr, RooseveU at Oyster Bay. ino World went into details and seemed to have iee well informed upon the subject., Mr. Roosevc n . promptly authorized a denial of the tale ana -aj . though the World made a feeble attempt to Draw . up its story,, it has, so far, ignominiously laueu . in that respect.; A t hm Inasmuch as tho World is not able to eswu i .Ush the correctness of its "great sensation. u . suggestion that rit frankly admit its error is no ,-, entirely uncalled for. Any newspaper is i a u to err and when the error has.bqen discovered ' estanililfLS1LSTCUt'WorUVS "great sensation" is not, under tho circumstances, 9 I ,s V n :.fl- h .. t & (' t i 'XftVia9B9IIE93lffBvHHullBIHHIBBPVVV