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tnont of the will of tlio peoplo and the scrupulous
enforcement of that will. tnfnr-
Tho Commoner will also furnish all the Infor
mation that it enn upon the questions which arc
bXotlo public to tho end that its readers may
l!o prepared to render the maximum of assistance
to every worthy cause.
Who will bo the first to mako this pledge? A
record will ho kept in Tho Commoner office of the
namo and address of each person who enters into
this movement. Those who desire to bo enrolled
can cither writo approving tho object of the or
ganization, and asking to have their names entered
on tho roll, or they can fill out and mail tho
Hank which will bo found upon another page.
Tho Commoner will bo pleased to publish a
limited number of brief letters on this subject.
Mr. Bryan is encouraged by his correspondence to
believe that thero will be a prompt and hearty
response to tho above proposition.
Nowspapers favoring the plan outlined aro re
quested to reproduce this editorial together with
tho primary pledge as it appears on pago 11 of
tills issue.' They may request their readers to sign
this pledge and forward the samo either to Tho
Commoner or to the office of their local democratic
paper. In tho latter event these pledges may be
then forwarded in bulk to Tho Commoner offlco
whero they will bo duly recorded.
JJJ
k i
There is a Law
The Now York Press, a republican paper, does
not take kindly to "investigation" of the trusts,
and insists that something more radical than "talk"
Js necessary if tho people aro to be given relief.
Tho Press says:
Thero Is a law to punish tho pickpocket who
steals your purse. There is a law to punish tho
burglar who robs your house. There is a law
to punish tho starving man who grabs a loaf
of bread. But there is no law to punish tho
(rust criminal who robs you of your means of
livelihood, who cuts your business out from
under your feet, and who does it openly in tho
sight of men and laughs at you because you
havo no redress.
Tho Standard Oil prosecution by the depart
ment of justice will bo worthless except to
demonstrate that tho penalty for trust crim
inality is inadequate and ineffectual, and that
Standard Oil robbery can be stopped only by
putting Standard Oil criminals in the samo
class as the law has put burglars and high
way robbers.
But there is a law to punish the trust criminal.
Tho first and second sections of the Sherman
anti-trust law are as follows:
"Section 1. Every contract, combination in
llio form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in
restraint of trade or commerce among the several
states, or with foreign nations, is hereby declared
to be illegal. Every person who shall make any
such contract or engage in any such combination
or conspiracy, shall bo deemed guilty of a misde
meanor, and on conviction thereof shall be pun
shed by a fine not exceeding five thousand dol
lars or by imprisonment not exceding one vear
or by both said punishments in the discretion of.
tho court. L
"Section 2. Every person who shall monopo
lize or attempt to monopolize, or combine or con
spire with any other person or persons, to monopo
lize any part of the trade or commerce among the
several states, or with foreign nations? shafl bo
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on convict
tion thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceed
ing fiye thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not
exceeding one year, or by both said punSiments
in the discretion of the court" a"ents,
Enforce the law.
JJJ
George S. Boutweli
" Georgo S. Boutweli, who died recentlv nt m
homo in Groton, Mass., had an eventtm careeP
Ho served as governor of Massachusetts ami vnl
resented that state In the lowerZ l!l rep"
senator and served as sYcretarv o iZ 10Sen
under President Grant's Tdminist?ation aT
Governor Boutweli wni n mnn , ,
vlctlons. He took a pr Ine?if '"s con
tho republican aflmi.Lt S 2 " ?,f "t
ect to "our new possession ," Jnd Tva s'ono "ot
The Commoner.
tho active leaders among tho anti-imperialists.
Although a republican, he supported tho demo
cratic national ticket In 1900 because of the party s
opposition to imperialism. Governor Boutweli
served his country and while he lived to a ripe
ago and was given opportunity to do a great work,
those who appreciated his ability and unfaltering
purpose in tho cause of righteousness, will keenly
regret his death.
JJJ
Where the Senate Scored
The United States senate is enti'tled to one
large credit mark. Tho senate prevented the ac
complishment of what is known as the "mileage
grab."
Tho Second session of the Fifty-eighth con
gress met as soon as the First session had ad
journed and it was physically impossible for the
members of congress to have done anything to
earn mileage for the Second session.
In spite of this fact the house, by a vote of
90 yeas to SO nays, adopted an appropriation of
$190,000 for the purpose of paying this mileage.
Many members of tho house fought the pro
posed steal and many others who did not have the
courage to vote for it lacked, likewise, the honesty
to vote against. But the senate's representatives
en the conference committee refused to give their
consent to the grab and the house was forced to
yield.
In January, 1904, an attempt was made to put
through this same grab. It was freely discussed
in the house, hut because election day was ap
proaching, the members did not dare go on record
in favor of the steal, knowing that they would
be required to explain to their constituents. At
that time no vote was registered in favor of th
grab, while 167 votes were recorded against it.
The Chicago Tribune, a republican paper, re
calling these facts says: "The men who were
timid in January, 1904, were bold and brazen in
March, 1905, after the election." But the senate
struck out the appropriation and is entitled to
the thanks of the people.
As the Tribune well says: "The raid on the
treasury fails, and the members of the house
gained disgrace- hut no money. The incident is dis
heartening. It shows how much more the chosen
representatives of the people care for a littlo
money than they do for the good opinion of the
public. They are ready to dip their hands into tho
national treasury if they can do so without in
curring the risk of being indicted."
JJJ
Heiress Repents in Time
Miss Elizabeth Howe, described as one of the
richest heiresses in Pennsylvania, yielding to the
strange deulsion which hag been the undoing of
so many money-spoiled American girls eneJ
herself to an Italian count who sports the name
DeCini. Just before the wedding day which s
set for last fall, the count demanded a "setTS
ment," rumored to be $50,000 cash and enouih
more to pay his debts, and an annuity of Jioooo
In return for this pecuniary consideration he was"
willing to endow her with his name and titi 2
also to stipulate to be "good" for two years Af tor
sober second thought Miss Howe decidori tw , P
s not worth that much to her and st i h?
married a young Pittsburg lawyer who "
school-day lover. Lucky Miss Zfl' Was a
fore marriage to theTuSyrS." bflT
many American girls have uSET x,A great
take after marriage TherfiTi d to their
symptom of decaying patriot L , " danSerous
proud element of out countrv PUrse
of American heiresses o purcnaslhHHilllDg?ess
are barred by our constituting , a titles whlca
sentiment would lead I marr Si iA healthy pubIic
prefer a poor young manSe y0lng Iadl to
sood habits and h"gh iSsTn n 5? educa"on,
man or even to a degenerate ?JfankruPt obI
aire. "eneiate American million-
JJJ
A Land-Mark in Danger
the MZi& to visit
the point whero tl e .A lleghen? nYeJIlltion at
sahela unite to form U e Ohfo ?? i tho Mono
spot and was of great strati v S iS an histori
onists in the struggle for to?CnValuo. lo th col
zas then called the west WhlTS on of wha
tary reputation was won near tttV first mI11"
ing it as the key to the countrl ? ' h rocsni
denies. The block mV
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 9
mark the place, and this with a piece of land abm
one hundred feet square is now owned by ti!
Daughters of tho American Revolution, the Su
of Mrs. Mary E. Sclienley, but the Pennsylvania
railroad is now buying land around it and unies
rescued it will soon he surrounded by frelnht
houses. The triangle formed by the two rivers an!
a line drawn east of the block house is not lam!
and the city of Pittsburg could well afford to buv
or condemn the ground and make it a public park
a perpetual breathing space for, and an inspira
tion to, the people. Unless the city council has
been grossly slandered it has been very generous
in giving streets and river fronts to the Penn
sylvania railroad. Why not some generosity jn
preserving this historic ground for the benefit
of future generations? The street car companies
have probably received enough in franchises to
justify them in buying the plat and presenting it
to the public for a park, and there are many Pitts.
burg millionaires not to speak of Mr. Carnegie-
vho could buy it out of their annual income
without missing the expenditure. If the city
council will not do it and the millionaires refuse
the Pittsburg papers might assist the Daughters'
to purchase it by popular subscription. Thero
ought to be enough patriotic spirit in Pittsburg
to save this spot from the encroachments of corn
mercialism. JJJ
"Investigate" the Paper Trust
Every republican newspaper has condemned
the paper trust, yet some republican papers aro
greatly impressed with Mr. Garfield's report on
the so-called beef 'trust and are inclined to agree
with the commissioner of corporations that thero
is no such thing as a beef trus.
It would be well if Mr. Garfield could "investi
gate" the paper trust.
A great many people would be interested in
the editorials which would be printed in republican
papers in the event that after "rigid investigation,"
Mr. Garfield concluded that there is no such thing
as a paper trust, that the paper factories have been
losing money and that newspaper editors havo
been complaining of purely imaginary evils.
It may not be doubted that a report from Mr.
Garfield on the paper trust similar to the one ho
made on the beef trust would be condemned by
all large newspapers. The attitude of some re
publican newspapers on the Garfield beef trust
report is no criterion; for do wo not know that
many republican newspapers that insisted upon
'standing pat" on the tariff question, so far as
products generally are concerned, and denounced
the proposition that the shelter which the trusts
find in tho tariff should be destroyed, were very
ready to demand that the advantage which the
paper trust obtains in the tariff be removed?
If Mr. Garfield has really discovered that thero
is no beef trust, it is very likely that through a
similar "investigation" he would be able to dis
cover that there is no paper trust. It would bo
interesting to observe the effect of such a decla
ration upon the publishers of republican news
papers. JJJ
A Few Rockefellerisms
1 1 Th? followin incidents will servo to tnrow a
side-light upon John D. Rockefeller and his busi
ness methods:
One who was for years an intimate business
associate thug described Mr. Rockefeller in tho
early days of the Standard Oil company: "When a
rival came in Mr. Rockefeller would put on a long
face and complain that business was bad and
rfou ?e' He would flnally suggest to tho
visitor that he the visitor, was fortunate in being
J1 ?J se.n ut while the Standard company was
S wt0 ,in havIng so mucn Property that it
Sl,;l close up its business. After getting
rivnva i lmB IG would Reluctantly' (?) buy the
rarted i ?nd, then' when the rlval had de
SfflPft i?id l0Ck the d00r and dance around tho
SSprnghB and Maiming, 'We've got an
other one we've got another one.'
informlm When one of hIs associates asked for
Mr C n?m n r?gard t0 ille company's business,
othe? p Sr drew tnree cycles, one within an
sevor;i Ing t0 th0 lareest zone ho said that
ir 7h mem,b0I,B of the company were in there;
1 tn ?nd Z?no h0 put others, among them tho
naon ni m, h(! Was talking. Pointing to tho
;;pace enclosed within the smallest circle he said,
Jm! i , ?' Is In llere-" Mr. Rockefeller tells
um5i dQnt Gn3oyment how he wont into the
smoking compartment of a car and "smoked out"
r -1. it'fliMMBBfnBfcT'""'"'
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