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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 4, 1906)
'f " The Commoner. 4 VOLUME 6. NUMBER 16 I if I l it I'M li i I ' iii rt i j i : m i I if: 1 1 li II 111 dp i it it The Commoner WASHINGTON CITY LETTER ISSUED WEEKLY WJLIJAM J .DKYAN CIIAMLKS W. UltYAN Editor unil Proprietor. Publisher. RioiiAiiD L. Mbicalfk Editorial Rooms and Business Associate Editor. Onioc .'121-330 So. 12th Street. Entered at the iiostofflcc at TJncoln, Nebraska, as second class mail matter. Throo Months 25o Slnillo Copy....- 5o Sample Copies Froe Foroirfn PosUtf 52o Ex tra. One Year $1.00 Six Months 50o In Clubs of 5 or more por Yoar 75o SUBSCRIPTIONS can bo sent direct to Tho Com moner. Thoy enn nlso bo sent through nowspapers which liavo advertised a clubbing rate, r through local agents, where sub-agents liavo been appointed, ah remittances siiould bo sent by postofflco money oruor, express order, or by bank draft on Now loric or Chicago. Do not send Individual checks, stamps or money. , . 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A.ddress all communications to THE COMMONER. Lincoln, Neb It is not yot too lato to sign a primary pledge, and it will never be too late to keep it. Senator Aldrich feels quite confident that ho can take care of the denaturized alcohol bill. It is very evident that the Sioux City Journal is talcing the campaign of Mr. Perkins somewhat seriously. Mr. Jerome of New York is giving a very correct imitation of a man who exhausted 7'lils ideas in the preface. President Roosevelt would not make a good witness for the prosecution in case the beef trust .sued Upton Sinclair for slander. The president is on record in the "embalmed beef" cases. A Commoner .reader asks where the song "Rolling Home to Bonny Scotland" may be ob tained. Any one having this information will kindly send it to Alexander Nicholson, Holstein, Iowa. Just as the pessimist is about to convince us that tho old world is all wrong something hap pens to prove that it is all right. The splendid contributions for the relief of San Francisco, for instance. "In view of recent developments the financiers who allowed themselves to be fried for fat in 1S9G and 1900 will probably agree that it would have been far cheaper and much better had they played the game honestly. Just about the time the g. o. p. managers thought the life insurance contribution scandal was forgotten, along came the national bank contribution exposure, and once more the man agers had to work their explanation and denial department overtime. thin T S ,moi;e Pe,rsolial Marty in Russia if 'w is in America," says Maxim Gorky. If by "personal liberty" he means tho liberty to o Z h Jl? !as lJone. Perhaps ho is right. And it I.? w I? 1G A,m(irlcan PeoPlo are well content to let it go at that. WHY NOT LET HIM PAY IT? 'vi.n?111 a bolng introduced in congress pro rucLrniP w romi88ln of U tariff duties on stiuctural iron and steel and other materials necessary for tho rebuilding of San FrSco Wo have all along been told by our.renub lican friends that "the foreigner pays7 the tax!" ny, in the very moment of their affliction deprive the people of San Francisco of the great advantages of a high protective tariff tov.hy.noVequiro tlle foreigner to "pay tho tax" for the Went of San Francisco? Washington, D. C, April 30. Democrats in congress are greatly pleased over the nomination of Ex-Senator William A. Harris for governor of Kansas. Those longest in service here know that in accepting tho nomination Mr. Harris will have to give up business plans that mean a pe cuniary sacrifice on his part, but they, say that inyielding to the wishes of his party in the "Sunflower" state to lead the fight for the de mocracy it is characteristic of the man. It will be recalled that in 1892 Mr. Harris was elected a congressman-at-large from Kansas. He was a combination candidate supported by all the parties, state and national, opposed to republi can policies. Ho received a tremendous ma jority. It was a remarkable result by reason of the fact that Mr. Harris had fought in the con federate army, and Up to that time the Karisans had never been known to give their support to any one who even sympathized with the losing side in our memorable civil conflict. Mr. Harris was born in Virginia and immediately after the war when everything was in collapse in the Old Dominion and prejudices were supposed to be not only bitter but unreasonable in Kansas, he went out there to make a living. He was a civil en gineer by profession and lots of railroad build ing was then going on in the west. Mr, Harris did not know what treatment he would receive at the hands of the Kansans. He has often re lated to the writer, however, that no stranger was ever shown more kindness by the people of Kansas. Intense as they were in their union sentiments they gave to the hopeful and ambitious young Virginian a friendly hand. They encour aged him in his work. They said nothing in his presence to wound his feelings or to indicate that a southern man' was not welcome in their midst. Mr. Harris prospered, and after acquiring a sufficient amount of money he invested his savings in a farm. For twenty years or more farming and the breeding of the best cattle have been his principal occupation. The farmers more than any other class of citizens, first sent him to the popular branch of congress by a majority so -large that the republican party of Kansas re ceived a jolt from which they did not recover for many years. Then they transferred him to the senate, and he served a full term in that body, making a record which won for him the respect regardless of political affiliation, of every man in that august body. Democrats at the nation's capital have a firm belief that the voters of Kan sas are going to show this year that they have Dust as much faith in William Alexander Harris as they had when they conferred the honors upon him which are mentioned above. They somehow feel that with Mr. Harris at the head of the ticket and with such strong and popular men running with him as Mr. Farrelly for lieutenant governor, Mr. Overmeyer for attorney general and many others regarded as acceptable candidates as the Kansas democracy could possibly have' selected to make the great fight this year, he " can not be beaten. ' The republican leaders in congress still per sist in denying statehood to Oklahoma and In dian Territorry They talk as if they intend to hold up the bill indefinitely and permit the ses sion to close without action on a measure of such vital importance to the inhabitants of the west. The republican bosses of the house of ren resentatives profess to feel outraged because the senate would not accept the Hamilton bill and unless they bow to the will of Mr Foraker and tSfrwmP?b,,ca? S ? the upper bnich toe qSi. iiiW,n Ve t0 be carried over until the short session. The most prominent democrats in con gress are certain that their record is straight so far as the statehood bill is concerned and they confidently expect an approval on the part of the people when the ballots are dropped into the boxes next November. L tue n,Q ohe S-enate rePublicans are dillydallying with S pWt case from Utah. They seem to be more afraid of facing this issue than was thmmlnnR sible up to the time the testimony closed Tho is no earthly reason why the renort qhmiirt 2 ? e sent in and the matter brought t u U? a vrV long1 doCbTeS ZV lt wi of thhrae triumvirate thnSJ310 predIctions Journ before T1 Ml is o0utaodfm!Lthat GVen e SlCd rat bill is out of the way and the regular appropria- ation bills are brought forward the chances are that the session can, not be ended before the middle of July, and it may run along until after August 1. The longest session of congress in the history of our government was in 1887-8. It lasted from the first Monday in December until October 20. In the following congress the session did not come to a close until October 1. That was the year in which the McKinley tariff bill was passed. In the congress before the Mills tariff bill went through the house but was held up in the senate as the latter body was controlled by the republicans. In the fifty-first congress the republicans controlled both branches and on ac count of the McKinley bill and the attempt to pass a "forced bill the republicans met with political disaster all over the United States. There is a panic in the ranks of the "stand pat" republicans so far as the revision of the tariff is concerned. They have the power to pre vent any attempt at revision this session and they will undoubtedly use that power. Every speech made this session on the republican side of the house of representatives has clearly dem onstrated that no matter what the pressure is they are going to carry the question over. What causes the uneasy feeling in the minds of Can non, Dalzell, Grosvenor, Hepburn and others is that it is pretty well understood that if he lives to send in another message to congress at the opening of the second session President Roose velt will demand that his party carry out the pledges made to the people. He intended doing this lat December, but the wily, coaxing leaders in both the senate and house advised him to hold off. It is very well known that they told him the "grand old party" was having enough trouble in other directions without lugging in tariff revision. The , democrats in the house have furnished, thrqugh speeches urging tariff revision, some ex cellent campaign documents which will be sent to every nook and corner of the United States for the careful inspection of the voters. It has previously been mentioned in this correspondence that Mr. Rainey, of Illinois, elucidated that sub ject to the discomfort of the republicans. They are so stirred up over his exposure of the watch trust that they undoubtedly have bad dreams at night Adam Byrd, of Mississippi, has also con tributed a specially strong argument on the Ta!ff' ,5?d speech is already in great demand. John Sharp Williams has likewise discussed the question at much length, and still other speeches are to come that will make what is commonly called "mighty interesting reading." The defeat of Representative John H. Bank head at the recent primary election will remove from the house of representatives the democrat of longest continuous service in that body Col Bankhead is in his tenth term. As readers of newspapers have known many days before this letter was written he is to be succeeded by Capt. Richmond Pearson Hobson. The successful young man gave Col. Bankhead a close race two years ago. jcu.10 The democrat in the house credited with the next longest service after Col. Bankhead Is Mr Robertson of Louisiana. He was elected to serve S. flnHX?ired term of his father' wno died during the fiftieth congress. Col. Bankhead entered pub lie life here at the beginning of that congress. Messrs. Lester and Livingston of Georgia in point of service, are next to Messrs. Bankhead and Robertson. If reports be true congressional nominations in nf ad PPous cIty of Philadelphia will not go to the highest bidder this year It is due to the fact that the corrupt repuoiican bosses over there no longer have it in their power onn Unf f In 5fect these offlces men who SSnnnn f 1? P,Ut Up anywhei'0 m $20,000 to $50 000 for the honor of filling a seat in the pop- SnPMMfrr- In the sood old days when Philadelphia had men of real ability in congress no such thing as money for a nomina tion was heard of. It was only when Israel Dur ham and others of tho dethroned "push" were at the head of affairs that candidates of the million aire class were brought to the front solely for the amount of cash they were able to distribute among "the boys." That seems to be all over now and the expectation is that in the year of our Lord 1906 capable and decent republicans win receive the nominations, and the chances also are that one or more democrats will be elect ed in a city that heretofore has been so over whelmingly republican. .':.- ALFJU2D J. STOFER. rj .s OL M lH?'lltf t x,i.-J&tii