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VOLUME 4. NUMBER
36
The Commoner.
ISSUED WEEKLY.
The Commoner.
President Roosevelt has ordered his bureau
chiefs not to give any hint of their estimates. This
is quite similar to his boasted policy of "publicity"
concerning the trusts.
Sntorwl at the postufflce at Lincoln, Nebraska, m aocond
Um mall matter.
.One Year $i.e
Six Month 50c
In Ctu b of 5 er moro, per
year 7BC
Three Months afl
SlMirleCepy B
Sample Coplen Free.
Foreign Postage 53c Extra.
Following the announcement of David B. Hill
that he is shortly to retire from politics, the
Joplin Globe demands the retirement from poli
tics of the other Hill San Juan.
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r money.
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ary, 1905. Two weeks are required after money has boon re
ceived boforo the date on wrapper can bo changed,
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ADVERTISING ratoa furnished upon application. Address)
aU osnmunlcatlons to
TUB COMMONER, LIuceln.Nafc
Mr. Depow complains that the people take
things too seriously. Is it -possible that the people
no longer laugh at Mr. Depow's jokes, or are the
people showing signs of anger at being forever
robbed?
"Where trusts are weak" Is the title of a
recent editorial in tho Seattle Times. To our sur
prise the weak spot pointed out was not in their
morals, although we are satisfied that it is tho
weakest.
"Let well enough alone," advises the president.
And in the next breath he asks us to grant a huge
subsidy to the ship owners. The president seems
to have mislaid his logic along with his habitual
vocalization.
Tho timo has come when Vermont and Maino
will havo to do something else to attract public
attention.
Naturally enough Mr. Parker's adherence to
the principles of the Declaration of Independence
brings down upon his head the denunciations of
those who believe that the flag should pave the
way for tho dollar.
Governor Odell is now quite sure that it is' up
to Sonator Piatt to retire long enough to get a
now reputation.
Mr. Elihu Root shows considerable hesitancy
in blistering his fingers by reaching for Mr. Roose
velt's New York chestnuts.
The Japanese have established a "protectorate"
over Korea. If things turn out right for Japan
that "protectorate" will eventually bear a won
derfully close resemblance to pur benevolent as
similation of the Philippines.
Mr. Debs has proved beyond a doubt that Mr.
Cleveland never read the report of the strike com
mission ho himself appointed.
A French writer has just issued a little booklet
entitled "The Curse of Too Much Learning." Evi
dently he has read Josh Billing's remark to the
effect that "it is better not to know so much than
to know so much that ain't so."
Tho continued suppression of vocalization in
stately mansion, in Washington portends an
awful explosion sooner or later.
Perhaps tho Russians and tho Japanese are,
waiting for the completion of that'Peaco Palace"
at Tho Hague before agreeing to quit.
Rothschilds paid $5,000 for two fleas. He ob
jects, however, to paying the engineers on his
New York underground railroad $3.50 a day. Mod
ern commercialism is rapidly putting human beings
on a cheaper scale than fleas.
Wo frankly confess that Maine would have
attracted more of our attention if it had not been
for tho noiso made by Arkansas' 60,000.
An operation on the sluill of a bad Indiana
polls boy has made him good. This Is a hint 'for
Mr. Cortelyou. If any trust shows symptoms of
being bad and refusing to contribute, let Mr.'
Cortelyou get out his case of surgical instruments.
Tho administration organs which claimed Mr.
Parker's first statement "ambiguous" are now
insisting that ho was needlessly emphatic.
The well remembered Mole of St. Nicholas pre
varicator seems to be dividing his timo between
Chifu and republican national headquarters.
The Brooklyn Eagle confesses disappointment
over the Vermont returns. While claiming to be
the only genuine simon-pure democratic newspaper
in the country "the Eagle does not possess the
first and best symptoms of a democrat optimism.
Poultney Biglow declares that this country
should keep 750,000 men under arms all the timo.
But how could wo if they were all Poultney s?
A scientist now comes forward and says the
English sparrow is really of Russian origin. But
it is showing a great many Japanese characteristics.
Encouragement for the American merchant
marine," is but another' way of saying "subsidy."
In other words, tho republican leaders are in favor
of bribing men to go into a business that already
pays big dividends. The subsidy idea appeals to
the. average g. o. p. leader.
Tho deftness exhibited by Mr. Root in side
stepping that New York gubernatorial nomination
is also a straw showing tho direction of tho
political wind.
Three years of Roosevelt's administration has
cost the country the enormous sum of $250,000,
000 more than four years of McKinley's adminis
tration cost, including the expense of tho Spanish
war and tho purchase of tho Philippines. Roose
veltlsm spells extravagance run riot.
Doubtless Mr. Cleveland now- realizes that ho
did not wait quite long enough after Governor
Altgold's death to write that story about the
Chicago striko.
The Illinois judges who decided that a closed
shop contract is illegal would probably decide that
no housewife had a legal right to choose between
an Irish servant girl and a Swede servant girl.
S'omo judges make no effort to conceal their desire
to repay corporations for their political support.
With tho workingman paying cake prices
tor plain bread the republican managers are not
making such a great ado as usual about tho
"full dinner pail."
Tho duty of Colorado workingmen Is to first
get rid of Peabodyism. Then other matters can bo
settled. This is not the time for workingmen to
scatter their votes.
Labor's
Best
Holiday
Mr. Addicks says that if tho opposition "will
surrender to him ho will insure Deleware'n elec
toral vote for Roosevelt. This is a sure sign that
the surrendor will bo made. Our grounds for so
believing is tho Byrne appointment and other
evidences of a presidential desire to placate Ad-llcka.
Labor Day was almost universally observed in
this country, and the day was marked by huge
parades of workingmen and
working women. One pleasing
feature of the day was the splen
did order maintained and tho
widespread desire to make it a
holiday in fact as well as in name. Labor unions
have not been working together in tho past as
they should work, but there is evidence that they
are coming into closer contact every day. The
Interests of workingmen are identical, regardless
of craft. The things that harm members of tho
Typographical union will alsoliarm the member
of tho Leatherworkers' union. It is only by unitpd
efforts that tho labor unions will be able to mnn
tain their identity. United, they will 0 n '
tically invincible when working in a just cause"
Divided, they will fall easy prey to the selfi.
interests that seek their destruction. a
Tho average American will extract fun from
almost any situation. The newspaper paragranC
'allows nothing to stand in tho way of his nuln
and banter, and the newspaper
Good Nocture readers seemingly enjoy it all
Banishea Th,e czar of Russia aul the new
Banishes hdr to the Rusgau throJhu
Tho Bomb been seized upon as subjects for
goodnatured jest aud bant
This sbrt of thing would not be allowed iu Russia
but Russia is the worse for that. The jesu, are
not made in any spirit of ill-nature; on the con
trary, they are an" evidence of friendship and good
will. If Nicholas could read in Russian journals
the good natured jokes and humorous references
to that boy, he could feel safe from the bomh of
the nihilist, and know that he was in reality en
deared to the -people over whom he rules. People
who are allowed to be goodnatured and havo
their littlo jest, irrespective of rank or condi
tion, are always goodnatured, and never given to
thoughts of bomb and bullets. Nicholas should
think the matter over.
Wonders of
-Republican
Logic
No one at all economical of time will under
take the task of trying to find logic in a republi
can argument. President Roosevelt's letter of
acceptance furnishes the evi
dence that such a task would be
a waste of time. In one breath
he declares that the tariff is not
at issue because it has become a
a "fixed principle." In the next
breath he denies that tho gold standard is fixed
because a party polling forty-six per cent of tho
votes has refused "to acknowledge the fact in its
platforms. And yet the party which does not ad
mit the fixity of the gold standard also denies
that a protective tariff is fixed and eternal. The
protective tariff as proclaimed by the republican
party has been rejected oftener than the bime
tallic theory, yet President Roosevelt declares
a "fixture" the one oftenest rejected and denies
the fixity of the other. Perhaps he means it as an
admission that the present gold standard is not
a fixture because it was surreptitiously secured.
A Hugo
Confidence
Ga.me
It is revealed now. that the government un
wittingly worked a confidence game upon the land
seekers who rushed so hastily to Rosebud and
registered for chances iu Undo
Sam's land lottery. A large
per cent of those who drew
"lilcky numbers" are refusing
to register because the land is
not worth the prico set. upon It
by tho government. All-the stories about there
being standing offers of $5,000, or any other sum,
for certain claims, were wholly without founda
tion. Tho government reserved all the townsites,
and the Indians took first pick of the land and se
cured all that was worth more than tho govern
ment figure of $4 an acre. It is estimated that
enough was spent in railroad fare and for other
expenses by land seekers to more than pay for
an equal amount of land in a recognized crop sec
tion. It was the alluring possibility of getting
"something for nothing" that attracted more than
125,000to the four, cities designated as registra
tion points. The spectacle of the general govern
ment catering to this gambling mania is far from
edifying.
The "Truth
About
Irrigation
Secretary STiaw, who is so far in the west that
he can not look back to his office in Washington
and see a $50,000,000 deficit, is seemingly as care-
less of his facts as ne is m uw
figures. In one- of his western
speeches ho attempted to show
that the republicans in congicss,
and not the democrats, deserve
tTio nrnrlif fnv thft flimnOl't tfiVCn
to irrigation measures. Irrigation is of such vast
importance to' the west that Secretary Shaw real
ized the need of laying some claim that his party
is entitled to all the credit for tho irrigation laws.
The facts are just the opposite to what Secretary
Shaw claimed. The democrats not only inaugu
rated the national irrigation movement, but they
furnished the votes to enact it into law. More
democrats voted for the national irrigation law
than republicans. More republicans voted against
it than democrats. Tho figures are as follows
Democrats for, 77; republicans for G9. Democrats
against, 13; republicans against, 4p. The demo
crats voted six to one for the law; republicans
voted three to five against it. Secretary Shaw
either knows these facts and is trying to deceive,
or he is-too careless In his statements to a
deserving of credence.
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