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STILL AVOIDING THE ISSUE
Governor-General Wright, of the Philippines,
in his speech at the Taft banquet said: "Whether
we are rightfully or wrongfully here is not to he
discussed at this time, but when the American
people take over the sovereignty of a people with
out their consent they will get a 'square deal.' "
Governor Wright suggests that this is not the
time to discuss whether we are "rightfully or
wrongfully" in the Philippines, but when was, or
is, or will be, the right time to discuss that
question? We were told we must not discuss the
question when the Filipinos were in insurrection
for fear it would prolong the insurrection and
Governor Wright objected to the discussion last
year (when there was no insurrection) for fear
it would incite another insurrection.
It is now seven years since we took over
"the sovereignty" of those people "without their
-consent;" when will it be proper to inquire
whether we are "rightfully or wrongfully" there?
And then the promise of "a square deal." The
employment of a card-player's phrase may pos
sibly add some sanctity to the promise and yet
if. is the same old promise that the conquerer
has always made to the subject. It is the same
promise that George the Third made to the
American colonists; the same promise that Spain
made to her colonists, and the same promise
that the czar is now making to his subjects.
When the Philippine bill was before congress
the democrats proposed amendments intended to
protect the Filipinos from American land
grabbers but these amendments vere voted down.
We get our information in regard to the
Filipinos from the American officials stationed
among them and this information is not likely
to be impartially gathered.
Aside from the tendency of every one to
magnify his own work the carpet-bag official is
pecuniarily interested in justifying the payment.
flf life? eolnmr .---''-
No nation is selfish enough to.. wont "to take
over the sovereignty of a jpeople without their
consent and at the same-time unselfish enough to
giy ej.h. -people' a"sqtfare deal.' -"
The difference between self-governhient and
colonialism is that Under the former the people
have It in their power to secure a square deal,
while under the latter the rulers say: "This is
a square deal" and if the subjects fail to discern
the squareness of the deal their vision 'is cor
rected by repeated applications of smokeless
powder and hot lead.
A number of democrats have accompanied
Secretary Taft, and it is to be hoped that they
will not confine their study of the Philippine
situation to the speeches made at the compli
mentary banquets. , l
THEY FEAR THE SHOCK
The tariff question is growing more and more
embarassing to the administration.. The demand
for revision is increasing and yet the republicans
are afraid to commence ' revising for fear they
can not find a stopping place. They seem in
clined to take hold of te machine, but they dread
the shock.
m i efU3e tCdo ything is to alienate the
taiiff reformers; to make any material reduction
In to anger the beneficiaries of high tariff Which
oyer way they turn they see trouble brewing.
The latest protest comes from the building
associations. The representatives of these asso
ciations recently met in national conference and
one of the conferees pointed out in an able paper
that the tariff on building material was not only
a heavy burden to home builders, but a hindrance
to home building. The arguments made so com
. mended themselves to those present that a com
mittee was appointed to draft and present to
congress a memorial jisking for a reduction of
the tariff on building material. The position
taken is directly in line with the position which
the democrats have consistently held for years.
They have insisted that the republican leaders
while prating about home industries have not
only neglected but actually discriminated against
the most important home industry-the industry
of home building. The young man who, selecting
soma young woman who is willlns to trust w
future to his brain ana arm, bS oVto buihl
for himself and wife a home is harrassed at every
1 .? thG 1greed ,of th0 Ptected manufactur
ers. They demand a tribute on lumber hard
ware, carpets,, furniture on every thing that en
ters into the home. When the democmt Ic paiTy
5S!riiivl?'it I?and8,off and let that noE : in
dustry vlive,: it is protecting the greatest home
The Commoner.
industry that thft or any other country ever
had.
But the voice of the home builder will not
be heard in republican councils he does not
contribute to the campaign fund. He simply
votes and as long as he votes the ticket straight
no matter what the party does his interests will
not be considered. The protected interests send
their representatives to Washington and threaten
revenge if their subsidy is disturbed. The .lt
uation recalls the story of -the tramp and the
merchant. The tramp went into a clothing store
and when the merchant was not looking picked
up a coat and put it on and ran out. As he went
out the door the merchant saw him and took
after him, shouting, "stop thief," butthe thief
did not stop. Then a policeman joined the
chase and shouted "Stop thief," but he did not
stop. When the policeman drew his revolver and
warned him that he would shoot, the merchant
became excited, grahbed the policeman by the
arm and begged, "If you do shoot, shoot him in
the pants, the coat belongs to me."
The trouble is that the republican leaders are
afraid to shoot anywhere for fear they will offend
some of the corporations that -furnish the sinews
of war. They recognize that the tariff question
is like an electric battery and. they are afraid
of it.
JJJ
CARNEGIE AND MISSISSIPPI
Governor Vardaman of Mississippi has ex
plained why the Mississippi university's trustees
refused Carnegie's offer of $25,000 for the es
tablishment of a library. The offer was declined
by a unanimous vote of the board. Governor
Vardaman holds that donations from trust mag
nates serve as monuments to the wrong-doings
of the donors. He says that these men have
accumulated their money through unholy
methods, and he protests against the acceptance
by Mississippi of any gift that would have a ten
dency to cause the youth of that state to mini
mize the evils of the methods employed by these
rz
.mjilthmillionaires. Governor Vardaman says:
We have in Mississinni the nnrpst $tmi
best stock of men and women under God's
heaven, and we do not want them warped
frm the broad spirit of fairness and integ
rity and purity which has made us the proud
people we are today, by being taught to bow
down in a. thankful humbleness to such men
as Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller, and
become subservient to the spirit of greed and
commercialism which has bred the trust and
fostered the slavery of the American work
ingman. I would rather see the walls of
our state university and our colleges crumble
into dust and the buildings be battered and
grimy than that they should be built up and
handsomely painted and furnished by this
- money which has been coined from the blood
and tears of the toiling masses, "demanding
the usury of self-respect," which we can not
afford to pay.
We -may not have in Mississippi the
scientific equipment for imparting knowledge
and all the modern accessories that make up
the great institutions of learning, hut we
have -the means of making strong and stal
wart men and women, who scorn the slavery
of wealth and stand unequaled in their proud
independence of thought.
The chief beneficiary of the steel trust i
begnning to get his share of the lime light To
avoid the disgrace of dying rich Mr CarneS
may yet have to get out of b!eust business g
JJJ
THE SMALL COLLEGE
President Harper announces that the Chiron
University is going to be divided up into a S
her of small colleges. He says: "Along with
the recognized advantages belonging to a lS
institution it is well understood that some If
the undoubted advantages of a small coS are
in danger of being lost. In order, if possible to
.combine some of these benefits which are found
in a small college with the resources and cos
mopolitanism of a great institution it is Intended
that beginning with the next autumn quarteT the
conges'1162.68 Sha11 he divided "l
nnrfiT11!? QOnf?ssion cominS from so high a source
ought to convince parents of the wisdom of allow!
ing -Uieir ch Idren to secure the earlier part (It
nearei institutions. The small college furnishes
tion, it keens the boy nearer home, thus onablinc
him to visit home and his parents to visit him?
it brings the teacher and student closer together
nLV1iih StlVleut the oene"t of the teacher
ideals. The small college, if under Christian in.
'' VOLUME 5, NUMBER 3,
fluencos, also rfyes more attemi,,,, l0
Mr. Bryan,, as president of the bo-mi f
tees of Illinois College, (Jackson vl , ft
especially interested in that institution and 1,5
no opportunity to bring it to tin , tention n
the parents who have children to od ucato h
there are a great many excellent small cSi-S1
scattered oyer the country and other "hinES &
equal, the nearest one is the best. g
JJJ
NOT "A FOOLISH STRUGGLE"
An Indiana girl of seventeen recently tonw
her own life, leaving a, note in which she T
scribed life as "a foolish struggle" sideline "Z
sooner we get out of it the better." How c?n
any one so regard life? Ask the patriarch S
sits amid the falling shadows and recounts
the achievements of the well-spent vcars- ask
the matron whose declining a&iz are 'made clad
by the companionship of virtuous children and
grandchildren; ask those who, strong in faith
are devoting themselves to the worl "s work or
ministering to the needs of those who require as
sistanceask any of these and the answer will
be that life instead of being "a foolish struggle"
is a glorious drama in which, pain and pleasure
joy and sorrow are so mixed th:.t the love of a
heavenly father shows forth with increasing clear
ness as the acts and scenes, succeed each other.
Only those can look upon life as "a foolish
struggle" who view it from a selfish standpoint
and, pursuing false Ideals, are blind to its splendid
possibilities and its great rewards. Because so
much depends upon one's conception of lifc
upon one's ideals it is the duty of the parents,
the school teacher, and the religious instructor to
set before the people and especially the young
ideals that will inspire to noble endeavor.
JJJ
NO DANGER OF THIRD TERM
Some of the democrats are expressing fear
that the president may 'be persuaded to run for
a third term. There is no need for alarm. He
has said that he will not under an circumstances
be a candidate to succeed himself and there is
no reason to believe that he has changed or will
change his mind on this subject. He has de
clared that he regards this as his second terra
and his own construction has been accepted.
Having served nearly three and a half years of
Mr. McKinley's second term he could hardly
justify any other construction.
fWithout questioning the good faith of the
president it may be added that he would have
a great deal of assistance in avoiding another
term if assistance were necessary. The republi
can party is divided as the democratic party
was in 1896 and he can not pass through the
next three years -without alienating one element
of the party. He is now counted among the
reformers. If he lives up to the promises he
has made, the corporations tvo Id fight his re
nomination, if he falters he will lose the popu
larity upon which another nomination is predi
cated. Neither is it sure that he would be a strong
candidate, if nominated. His large majority in
1904 was not so much a "personal or party vic
tory as a democratic defeat. He received only
about one hundred and fifty thousand more votes
than the normal republican strength while Judgo
Parker received about a million and a half less
than the normal democratic vote. If this was
the president's experience when he had on his
side the feeling that he was entitled to an en
dorsement what would he his experience if lie
had to carry the odium of a third term? The
sentiment against a third term was so strong that
Grant had to bow to it. Could Roosevelt over
come it? The names of Washington and Jeffer
son and Jickson are still potent and they
refused to consider a third time. Would the
people admire an ambition which would disre
gard their example?
No, Mr. Roosevelt does not want a third term
and if he di want it he would find the anti-third
term sentiment an insuperable obstacle.
Let him serve the people with an eye singe
to their welfare and the gratitude of his coun
trymen will be a richer reward than a dozen
terms could bestow.
NORWAY FOR INDEPENDENCE
At a referendum recently held the people of
Norway, by a vote of about three thousand to one,
declared for separation from Sweden. As Sweden
has virtually consented to the separation, inde
pendence is now assured. If our nation had no
strained its diplomatic eye-sight in its recoga
tioi- of Panama it might find it easier o recog
nize Norway as the latest addition to the sister
hood of nations.
W
