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.The Commoner.
iVOLTJMB 5, NUMBER
29
I
The Commoner
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Nob
The New York "400" seems to be made up
largely of B. Z. Marks.
When the good citizen takes a vacation from
politics the grafter redoubles his exertions.
One way to prevent crop report scandals is
to prevent speculation on the boards of trade.
Doubtless the insurance companies would be
nMng to submit to examination by national bank
v . uiiners.
And only a few years ago Mr. Depew was
widely mentioned as a' probable candidate, for
tho presidency!
So far Panama appears to serve only the func
tion of being the place at which juicy salary
warrants are dated.
& ,. ... . ., . ... ...... ..
a it is very-generally believed that the Enuit-
able Was" pretty thoroughly skinned before its
Hyde was removed.
A gold strike running $138,000 to the ton
in reported from Wyoming. Dr. Harper has
Btruck a richer vein than that.
Japan declares ths.t she does n6t want the
Philippines. The wisdom of the Japanese be
comes more manifest every day.
The packers have long boasted tliat in pack
ing hogs they utilized everything but the squeal.
r The people have been given that.
-v.
The indications arc that Japan is preparing to
have Manchuria and a few other sections ,ot
China thrown into her lap by providence.
Tho Taft presidential boom seems to have
been thrown into the junk heap alongside trust
prosecution, railroad rate regulation and canal
pushing.
Senator Depew will have to tell the reporters
some awfully funny stories this time if he ex
pects to make them forget what they were sent
to interview him about.
Mr. Lawson's remarks concerning Governor
Johnson of. Minnesota will be taken in a Pick
wickian sense by Governor Mickey of Nebraska
and Governor Hoch of Kansas.
It seems that the beef trust forgot all about
those injunctions almost as soon as the adminis
tration and the courts did. The tr-. t and federal
forgetteries seem always in good working order.
Mr. Loomis has been in Europe several
weeks, but up to date we have heard df no prin
cipality paying up old debts because Mr. Loomis
had purchased the certificates at a heavy discount.
Doubtless those Equitable directors and pen
sioners and the members of the beef trust wish
that their business would be treated like the
bones of John Paul Jones that is, let alone for
about a hundred years.
The Chicago strike is ended and several
labor leaders are under indictment for accepting
bribes. The businerj men who paid any bribes
that may have been accepted are not,' however,
under similar indictment.
Secretary Bonaparte promises the public that
no one will be whitewashed from the service and
that no one will be made a scapegoat. Is this
an indiscreet reference to the Morton whitewash
and the Bowen scapegoat?
Norway and Sweden are in trouble and Mr.
Depew is in Europe. Mr. Depew is a great hand
at giving advice for a consideration, but we would
advise Norway and Sweden to read up on Equit
able affairs before purchasing.
"I have lived in the searchlight of publicity
for forty years," says Senator Depew, "and this
U the first time I have ever been called to ac
count for anything." Senator Depew has been
singularly fortunate in his chosen career.
The Schenectaday college president who de
clined to give up a ?3,500 job to accept one pay
ing $14,000 can not give aw.iy as much money
as Mr. Rockefeller, but it -will b readily ac
knowledged that he Is capable of doing more
vreal good.
Secretary Bonapartete reference to whitewash
is calculated to make Paul Morton read that let
ter with a violent twitching of the left eyelid.
V jt ,
Uncle Sam's ".conscience fund" has been es
tablished twenty years and amounts to less vthan
$400,000. Dr. Harper's conscience fund can beat'
that a mile.
The Kansas City Journal has made note of
one Important difference between banking in
China and banking in the United States. In
China tho officials of a failed, bank get it "in the
neck," In the United States it the depositors
who get it.
Mr. Rockefeller's only solace lies in the fact
Xhat McClure's was labeled "fiction number"
when the most interesting portion of Miss Tar
bell's story was printed. y
The bankers who loot their own bank and
the railroad magnates who extort from their
patrons are creating more sentiment in favor of
t government savings banks and tho public owner
ship of railroads than 'all the advocates of these
things combined.
Senator Piatt says that if he had his life to
live over he would live it. differently. Of course,
but wouldn't it be hard on the public in vi3W
of the senator's experience?
The trouble with Mr. Jerome while on his
western trip was that he wa-3 profoundly solemn
in hisattempts to be humorous, and hilariously
funny in his attempts to be profound. "
That reciprocity congress is called about three
years too soon. Reciprocity always gets its big
boost in presidential campaign years, and is the
G. O. P3 main argument, barring only the barrel.
While trying to wash his ace at a public
fountain a man in Now York droppod $3,000,G00
in stocks into tho water and they were washed
. away. The slump in watered stocks still con-
, tinues. . -
Taking note of The Commoner's club sub-
5Si! tiat the C?Ica? Tribune claims:
Now is the time to inquire what is the matter
.lth T,h0- ,Commoiior." The Commoner is all
right, thank you. None of the staff has doorteA
to the opposition.
President Roosevelt has appointed Judge W
J. Calhoun a special commissioner to investigate
the Venezuelan situation. With the fate of Mr
Bowen in mind it is easy to guess what Tnieo
Calhoun will do if he wants to holS hi J job
and get a letter of recommendation.
Secretary Bonaparte has set a good examnlo
by returning all passes and announcing that he
will not during his term accept such favors from
the railroads. Now if the new secretary can con
vert the president to his way of thinking the
way. will bo ejear for a much needed reform
The men in direct charge of the "system"
are not the only .ones worried by Tom f,
There are the eminent publishers who must Si
some sort of showing for the money they receive
from the newspapers controlled by the ''system "
Referring to the rumor that an extra s
sion of congress will be called for November 11
the Sioux City Journal exclaims: "Yes, it aoumia
unlucky, but for whom?" Well, have you noted
the railroad managers worrying because the con.
gress is republican?
;i lot of newspapers that are recommending
that the czar give his people a more representa
tive government are alco commending our viola
tion of the principle of self-government in r'
Philippines. But the crimping of g. o. p logic
continues to flourish with all of its old-time
vigor. -
A
Practical
Philanthropist.
Dr. Michael Warner of Baltimore did not p 0
up millions and seek to secure a reputation for
philanthropy by building pub
lic buildings and endowing uni
versities. But just before ho
died he burned his account
books in order that his pa
tients should not be pressed for payment by his
executors. Dr. Warner's practice was largely,
among the poor. There was more genuine phil
anthrophy and practical love for his fellows in
this act of Dr. Warner than in the giving of mil
lions wrung from the public by sharp practices
and through purchased laws. Dr. Warner's phi
lanthropic was not "tainted" in any way. And
his practical help to his fellows has erected in
many hearts monuments to his memory that will
be far more enduring than granite piles.
Probe
to the Very
Bottom
Secretary Bonaparte assures the public that
the Bennington disaster will be thoroughly
probed, and that if anyone is
responsible he will be pun
ished. He further adds that
no cne will be made a scape
goat. This is not an uncom
mon assuranqe, but somehow or other the people
place more reliance i-pon Secretary Bonaparte's
words than they usually do under similar cir
cumstances. His action in refusing transporta
tion "courtesies" doubtless had something to do
with establishing confidence in him. The Ben
nington disaster should bo probed to the bottom,
and if it was caused by negligence, the guilty
parties, should be punished. The lives of American
sailors ' and marines are too precious to be en
trusted to the keeping of careless or irresponsible
officers.
The
Dirt is Not
Flying
It has been considerably in6re than a year
since President Roosevelt shouldered his spado
and declared that he was about
to build the Panama canal. Al
ready there are signs that the
president is tired and anxious
to co at something else. So
far all that has been done on the canal has been
vocal instead of industrial, and the only things
dug up are yellow fever, 1'ed tape, inconsistency
and lack of decision. No one knows as yet wheth
er the canal will be a lock canal or built at a
sea level. No one has any idea what it is going
to cost. The men who have been selected to
take charge, of the work have been recommendeu
by the managers of the trans-cuntinental rail
roads who have spent so many years and somucii
money in defeating all canal projects. It wm
take congress a long while to straighten things
out down there. In the meantime everything
save dirt is flying in the canal zone.
Governor Odell invosted $170,000 in the ship
yard trust. When he saw that he had been
vniroi 11 -nrnifisted and de
manded his money back. Tho
trust promotors laughed. Buc
the legislature was about to
meet to elect a suaew -Depew.
Governdr Odell -proposed the name o
Black and began using his power to elect nini iu
Depew's seat. In the meantime he sued the smii
yard trust for the return of his money, aii . i
a short time Governor Odell withdrew Blade now
the race and announced that Depew was enutu
to re-election. Simultaneously with this dec siou
came the announcement that Governor oueii
suit against the shipyard trust was droPPwi.
Depew was in close alliance with the nsl ,a"0
companies, and the managers of the msJ"vln.
companies were deeply interested in tne , ".A
yard trust. Concealed, somewhere within 1!?
tie story is a plot for a good novel or a tmiu"
drama.
How Odell
Secured His
Money
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