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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1904)
.w. SFjfPWWj?f((l 4, The Commoner. ISSUED WEEKLY. . Entered at the postofQce at Lincoln, Nebraska, m lecond class mall matter. Ore Year $1.00 Six Months 50c la Clubs at s or more, per year .75c Three Months as lifle Copy gc Sample Cople Free, Foreign Postage 53c Extra. SUBSCRIPTIONS can be sent direct to The Commoner. They can also be sent through newspapers which bare adrer tlscd a clubbing ate, or through local agents, rrhcro aub agcnti have been appointed. All remittances should be sent by postofflco money order, express order, or by bank dralt on Hew York or Chicago. Do not send individual checks, stamps or money. RENEWALS. The date on your wrapper shows whenyour subscription will expire. Thus, Jan. 81. '06, means that pay ment hai been received to and Including tho last Issue of Jan nary; 1005. Two weeks are required alter money has been ro celvcd before the date on wrapper can bo changed. CHANGE OF ADDRESS. Subscribers requesting a change ol address must give OLD as well as tho NEW address. ADVERTISING rates furnished upon application. Address All communications to THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Neb, Tho explanations are now in order. Organization is the advance agent of success. Special privilege is the foe of genuine democracy. The battle for democratic principles is just hegun. Every "sweat shop" manager is opposed to labor unions. The "I told you so" political prophet is now taking his innings. . .And there is still another fight left in the good old democratic party. j r The flat purse has been dictated by fashion, and. compelled by the trusts. ... ' M As was exDected rhn Pnnjimji rioni ia ? o-n-'oir. T- ing a great amount of friction. Public ownership of the railroads vs. railroad ownership of the public. Which? Tho dirigible airship has come. The service able airship may not, after all, be very far in the future.- An interstate commerce, commission that has not the power to enforce its judgments is lacking in power. The Russo-Japanese war may now get in front of, the spot light and secure the undivided attention of the people. ' " ..' "Now that the smoke of battle has cleared away" it is a good time to begin "smoking up? for the next battle. Economic reform should be the- watchword. One reform needed is the election of senators by direct vote of the people. The English inventor who journeyed to Russia -to sell tho czar breastplates for Mb soldiers learned something to his disadvantage.' Organize democratic clubs ln; every precinct and get ready for the battle for democratic prin ciples that is scheduled for 1908. The indications are that if Colombia will just be patient she will have plenty to rejoice over before this Panama, case is finally settled. Now that the election has been held the cabi net officers nay return to Washington anu do a little something towards earning their salaries. Every extension of The Commoner's circula tion widens its Bphere of influence and Increases . the interest In the success of democratic principles. Read the liberal subscription order published in another column of this issue. The Commoner. Now that the campaign is over perhaps Sec retary Shaw will be ..able to recognize a. deficit, when he sees it. When safety appliances become cheaper than human life, tho railroads will not bo sucn conr stant causes of death. Strange to relate, Mr. Hay did not roll. up his shirt sleeves and settle that little Baltic fleet matter with his inimitable .diplomacy. Mr. Tyner might reply to tho president's reply by calling attention to repeated republican de mands for respect for the courts. The agreemnt to leave that Baltic fleet and The agreement to leave that Baltic fleet and to cause The Hague tribunal to uep forward and demand greater recognition. "Buffalo Bill's" anxiety to chase bank robbers, suddenly diminished when the genial showman re membered that the season for the press agent had closed. There will be another national election in 1908, and it behooves democratic democrats, to begin preparing for it right now. Today is not too early to begin. The boasted "big stick" is always apparent when the g. o. p. goes after the trusts, because it always sticks before it does anything. In trust busting the "big stick" is always "stuck." When postmasters :re elected by the people whom they must serve, instead of being appointed by politicians whos? ends they must advance, there will be a better chance of reform in the postal department. When the railway coaches intended for the conveyance of the general public are as strongly built as the private cars built for the use of the railroad officials, the casualty list of railroad acci dents will be vastly decreased. President Eliot of Harvard is opposed to labor unions and the "closed shop." President Eliot must be catering to the wealthy gentlemen who are seeking to make more profit by securing the privilege of lengthening the hours of labor and decreasing the wages. Now that it is no longer necessary for him to put in his time making stump speeches the attorney general may devote some of his time to solving the beef puzzle why the price of cattle on the hoof keeps declining and the price of.baef on. the block keeps climoing. A Panama republic was recognized In thirty minutes. The Filipinos had schools and univer sities and were fighting lor freedom before Panama had a semblance of civilization. There was money in recognizing Panama, and there is money for somebody in refusing to grant justice to the Filipinos. The Russian naval officer who saw eight Jap anese torpedo boats where there were only a half dozen fishing smacks would be a valuable -acquisition to this government's statistical department. He could help Carroll D. Wright make figures showing that increased cost of living and decreased wages were extremely beneficial to the working men of the country. Abuse of the Mail System The shameless abuse of the mails is a matter that deserves the attention of the postoflice of- uciuis. jj-or montns the malls have been loaded down with matter sent out urdor congres sional frank but which was in no Wiso nnt.it.lei? t t ,ii Tons of this matter have been carried over 'the' country free of charge to the committees, but at immense cost to the general government ' It is a heavy expense to tho Dostofllce department, be cause it provides absolutely no revenue and Is an unfair vantage, because it makes the' general public bear the expense of circulating campaign literature. During the mail weighing seasons when a basis for payment for transporting the' mails is being secured, tons of similar matter are hauled. It Is a fraud that should be stopped, alone: with a number of otheri that are apparent in the postal department ...-.-. . T. VOLUME 1 NUMBER 4 Democracy vs. Plutocracy The Election's Lesson (Continued from page 1.) '. they received any promises of aid or immunity No well-informed person doubts that tho lar corporations have furnished the republican can paign fund during the campaigns of 1896 and 1900 and 1904, and no one can answer the logic of Judge Parker's arraignment of trust contributions The trusts are run on business principles Thev do not subscribe millions of dollars to campaigns unless they are paying ,or favors already granted or purchasing favors for future delivery. Tho Weakness of Judge i-arker's position was that tho charge was made at the close of the campaign when it was neutralized by a counter charge. The trusts can not be fought successfully by any party that depends upon trust funds to win the election The democratic party must make its attack upon the trusts so vehement that no one will suspect of secret aid from them. It will be to its advan tage if it will begin the next campaign with an an nouncement that no trust contributions will bo accepted and then prove its sincerity by giving the public access to its contribution list, m public enterprises, the names of contributors are general ly made public in order to denote the character and puipose of the work. Frfsident Roosevelt has four years in which to make gcoil his declaration that no obligations weie incurred by the acceptance of trust funds Ho will disappoint either the contributors or tno Voters. If he disappoints the contributors, tho trust question may be put in the process of set tlement. If he disappoints the people, they will " have a chance to settle with his party four years hence. "Death to every private monopoly," must be the slogan of the party in this question; any other position is a surrender. The platforms of 1900 and 1904 declare that a private monopoly is indefensible and intolerable, . and this declaration presents 'the issue upon the trust question. The party must continue its defense of the interests of the wage-earners; it must protect them from the encroachments of capital. The fact that the laboring men have not always shown their appreciation of tne party's position ought not to deter the party from doing its duty in regard to them. The labor question is not one that con cerns employers and employes alone; it concerns the entire community, and the people at large have an interest in the just settlement of labor con troversies; for that reason they must insist upon remedial legislation in regard to hours and arbi tration, and they must so limit the authority of the courts in contempt cases as to overthrow what is known as government by injunction. Tho party must con:inuo its opposition to na tional banks of issue and must insist upon divorc ing the treasury department from Wall street. The party must continue its fight for tho popular election of senators and for direct legis lation wherever tho principle can be applied. It must not only maintain its position on old issues, but it must advance to the consideration of new questions as they arise. It takes time to direct attention to an evil and still more time to consolidate sentiment in favor of a remedy, and Mr, Bryan is not sanguine enough to believe that, all the reforms that ho favors will at once be endorsed by : iy party plat form, but r-he Commor3r will proceed to point out the reforms which he believes to bo needed. Among these may be mentioned the postal tele graph system, state ownership of railroads, .he election of federal judged for fixed terms, and the election of postmastera by the people of their respective communities. Instead of having tno government controlled I y corporations through of ficers chosen, by the corpoations, we must have a government of the people, by the people and rr the peoplea government administered according to the Jeffersonian maxim of "equal rights to an and special privileges to none." Hope r.nd duty point the way. To doubt the success of our cau& is to doubt the triumph of the right, for ours is and must be the cause of the masses. wij malice toward none and charity for all, jet u begin the campaign of 1908; let us appeal to iuo moral sentiment of the country and arraign " jpolicied of tho republican party before the bar the public conscience.