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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (April 14, 1905)
T-r""w -jntnv ' k The Commoner. VOLUME 6, NUMBER 13 m. 14 - Back to the People 'At tho bunqtiot of tho Iowa Demo cratic club, hold ut Dos Moines on April 1, Mr. Bryan apoko on tho sub ject, "Back to tho People" Following is a synopsis oC Mr. Bryan's remarks: "'Back to tho people' is tho phraso that best describes tho tendoncy which is manifesting itself in tho nation and in most of tho states. For a period of years tho tendoncy was toward cor porate domination and tho voice of tho voter grow woaker and weaker in comparison with tho Influonco of monoy. The tide has changed and wo eeo cvldoncos ovorywhoro of a deter mination on tho part of tho masses to assort thomselves in tho management of parties and in tho conduct of tho government. Tako, for instance, tho agitation in tho republican party in favor of primary laws. LaFollotto inado that tho basis of his fight in Wisconsin, arid ho has won his light against tromondous odds. A republican governor has taken up tho matter in Illinois, and a republican governor is advocating tho same reform in Iowa. In Minnesota tho ropublican par.ty is also committed to tho primary sys tem, and-in some form this system is boing endorsed by tho republican party in othor states. It is democratic in tho broad sense In which democracy moans tho rule of tho people. Tho primary system has been in force for years in most of tho southern states, and tho fact that it is now being adopt ed in the north is one of tho best evi dences that tho slogan, 'Back to tho people,' has caught the attention of the republicans as well as democrats. Combat With Trusts "Take another illustration. In many o tho states an anti-trust movoment Is clearly dlscerniblo, with Kansas loading tho way. A ropublican legis lature In that state has defied the most notorious of our monopolies,, the Stand ard Oil company, and a republican legislature, with the aid of a repub lican governor, have enacted a num ber of measures intended to put the people in control of their own affairs. . The ropublican legislature of Kansas has gone so far as to provldo for tho . establishment of a state oil reflneryi a thing that a few years ago would have been denounced as socialistic had it ueen suggested uy tne democrats or populists. But even tho republicans of Kansas have advanced to the point whore they recognize that there is in tho people a reserve power that can bo Invoked whenever necessary and ( which, when Invoked, is sufficient for the people's protection. It Is needless to say that tho democrats have acted "with the republicans of that state in the effort to break the grip of the Standard Oil company. Another illus tration of this tondency to put the gov ernment back in tho hands of the peo ple is to bo seen in tho agitation in favor of legislation regulating railroad rates. For years the railroad mag , nates have dominated tho state gov ernments of many of the states, and have been in control of tho federal government. During the last national campaign tho question of railroad , legislation was scarcely discussed. . While the democrats declared in favor of railroad regulation, the issue was not made prominent in tho campaign and the republicans did not discuss it at all. But after tho election tho president called attention to the need of a law vesting in public officials the power to dotermine and prescribe rail road rates. His recommendation at once revealed a much stronger senti- THEY HAVE NO EQUAL Don't tnke a remedy "JusttiSRood," when you can pet the real article. Tho fact Is, thoro is no remedy that is any whore as reliable and safe for tho euro of pain of all hinds as Dr Miles' Antl Pain Pills. They aro quick inaction, contain no Injurious druirs, are perieotly harra f'ta.ana leave no disagreeable after-effects. jfles,25o. Never sold in bulk. contain '"). an 5 ment in favor of this proposition than tho casual observer would have sus pected. Encouraged by tho president's attitude, a number of republicans took up tho fight and tho democrats, of course, throw their strength with them. Tho railroads at first tried to defeat tho movement by preparing an in effective measure, but the sentiment was too strong to be thus turned aside, and tho house passed a 13111 which, while it did not go far enough, gavo promise of relief. The senate has for tho time being stopped this move ment, and because of the method of its selection and 'the length of tho sena torial term, may for a time delay it, but only for a time. A number of states, following in the wake of con gress, have seriously taken up tho rail way question, and there is more dis cussion today of tho right of tho peo plo to control the corporations created by law than there has been before for many years. Public sentiment is crys tallizing in favor of the proposition that the people have a right to have what they want in government, and this, I need not tell you, is the demo cratic position. To deny either the ca pacity of the people for self-government, or the right of the people to regulate their own affairs and to deal with all questions that concern them, Is treason to our theory of government, and this treason is about to be re buked by a revival of faith in the peo ple. The New Tendency. "This tendency to restore to the peo ple their lost rights and to put them in possession of their own affairs is not going to stop with the trust ques tion or with the railroad question. It will oxtend to every issue. When ap plied to the tariff question, it will put an end to tho system that has- been in vogue for a quarter of a century under which tho manufacturers have been permitted to write the schedules and determine the amount of the collec tions that they can take from the peo ple through the operation of high tar iff laws. The application of this prin ciple will bring together the capitalist and tho laborer by legislation which will give to the laboring man the pro tection which he has so long needed and compel the recognition of his rights as superior to the claims of capi tal. It is forty years since Lincoln declared in one of his messages that labor was prior to and" more impor tant than capital, a principle which has since been so often ignored. But the conflict between human rights and tho demands of organized wealth can only be settled finally by a recognition of the superiority of the claims of men over the claims of money. Even the financial question which has not only been overshadowed by the question of monopoly, but has lessened in impor tance by the increased volume of money this question will also feel tho impulse of the movement 'back to the people.' Tho doctrine that a few finan ciers can safely be permitted to' dic tate the financial policy of the nation will be overthrown with the overthrow of the doctrine that railroad magnates can safely be allowed to control the traffic of the nation, or trust magnates the industries of the country. "Tho democratic position is being vindicated, and tho democrats face the future with hope and courage. The last election proved the folly of the attempt to make the democratic party a conservative party, or a competitor with the republican party for tho favor of the trusts and syndicates. The ag gressive and progressive element tho radical element, if you please, of tho democratic party is again in control of the party. The dempcratic party is again unitod, and it is united upon a basis of a forward movoment. There will be .no more suggestion of retreat and while tho democratic party hav ing emerged from the valley of the shadow of death, is preparing for an attack all along the line, the republican party is just entering upon a struggle which will shake it to the foundations. As today organized the republican party is under the control of the cor porations. The reform element in tho party is under the control of the cor porations. The reform element in the party is protesting and demanding that this leadership shall be over thrown. However much democrats may wish to see the reform element in the republican party successful in its efforts to control the party, it is in evitable that the triumph of the re form element must come through con vulsions in the republican party as the reform came through a convulsion in the democratic party. But out of this convulsion will come good; reform can come in no other way. Just as tho flood is increased by the height of the dam, so aro the difficulties of the party increased by the obstructions which aro raised to reform, but re form comes at last. The timid repub licans will be afraid to fight for fear of disturbing the harmony of the party, just as timid democrats were afraid that the harmony of the democratic party would be disturbed. But there will appear courageous spirits in the republican party who, seeing the neces sity for a reorganization of their party, will risk their political lives to secure this reorganization, and in risking their lives they will win a place in history. Democracy Stronger Than Ever "The democratic party has lost in three campaigns and the majority has increased, and yet the party is strong er today than it has been at any time since the polls closed in 1892, because it stands upon solid ground, and be cause events have been proving tho correctness of the position taken by it. The democrats who have been keeping tho faith have no doubt of the final triumph of their principles. The forces that arc behind the truth are as irre sistible and as constantly at work as the forces of nature which bring forth the harvest from the seed that is sown, and sustained by faith in the triumph of their cause the democrats are ready for the fight of 1908. Wherever in any state republican reformers propose legislation in the interests of the peo ple, they will receive democratic sup port, and the democrats will thus prove the sincerity of their purpose. If through republican initiative reforms are accomplished, democrats will share in the honor of securing those re forms, and if republicans fail to secure reforms the efforts made will furnish an education of which the democrats can take advantage in their next ap peal to the voters." INFORMATION WANTED F. D. Britt, Roby, Texas, is anxious to secure information concerning the whereabouts of his brother, J. S. Britt; a post commissary sargeant who was discharged in April, 1903, at some post in Wyoming after service in the Phil ippines. Anyone able to give the in formation desired should address F. D. Britt at Roby, Texas. BOOK WANTED Gar Borden, of Greenup, 111., wants to know where he can get a book en titled "The Wild Riders," being an ac count of the First Kentucky Cavalry, which was commanded by Colonel Wolford. Anyone able to give the de sired information is requested to ad dress Mr. Borden direct. A New Book By William J. Bryan, Entitled Under Other Flags Travels, Speeches, Lectures. S10" 2ln BMJian'f puI,oai1 tonr year ago ho 1ms boon boslogod by requests for copies of lot tors describing his travels abroad, Thoso lottors togothbr with a numborof his lectures and " ' "u.OoU0, i.uvo uuuu gmuoroa logotuor and publlshod in book form, Tho Euro pean lottors contain Mr. Bryan's account of what ho saw and learned while in Europe, and present Interesting views of Iroland, England, Scotland, Franco, Switzerland, Gormany, llussia, Holland, Bolglum, and tho Netherlands, togothor with a description of his visits with Count Tolstoy and Popo Leo. In this volumo Mr. Bryan wrltos entertainingly of tho "Birth of tho Cuban Itopubllc." llo also Included his lectures on "A Conquering Nation," and "Tho Valuo of an Ideal." Othor artlclos In tho volume aro "Tho attraction of Farming," wrltton for tho Saturday Evening Post; 'Peace," tho address dcllvorod at tho Holland Socloty dlnnor in 19W; "Naboth's Vinoyard, tho address at tho gravo of Philo Sherman Bonnott; Democracy's Appeal to Culture, address boforo tho Alumni Association of Syracuse University; and an account of his rocont trip to tho Grand Canyon entitled "Wondors of tho West." Tho book Is illustrated, woll printed on good paper and substantially bound. tnOfrOthlfCaiUr0lO7nd0r0th0rFIag8,'l8tho,'Not08 on Europe," wrltton after his re turn from abroad, and giving in brief form a resume of tho many interesting things ho saw. I The sale of Under Other Flags has been Very gratifying to the author. Although the first edition appeared in December the fifth edition is now on the press. The Volume of safes increases from day to day. Agents find the book an easy seller 'tind order them in lots of from 25 to 100. Neatly Bound in Cloth 400 Page Octavo Under Other Flags, Postage Prepaid ... . $1.25 With The Commoner, One Year . $1.75 ...AGENTS WANTED... Address THE COMMOMFR. . . . v v -. -v ., I LINCOLN, NEBRASKA SitirTPtfrrtfaVftrrtWMiiitiMl mwuMMwn "N - -. 4. ikUvM( aAMM4W ", vw wi VWWHWMMMa