3fWrTjP8V-
'
The Commoner.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
Vol. 6. No. 28
CONTENTS
Mb. BltYAlf'S IiETTEB
. How Tins Cakds aee Stacked '
"Cuked or Enterprise"
Why not Rockeeelleb?
ROOSEYEXT AND LaFoLLETTE
The "Real Politician"
One Party Domination
Good Reports
Editorials by Commoner Readers
Comment on Current Tories
'" Home Department
Whether Common or Not
News op the Week
THE MEAT BILL
f
Representative William Lorimer, republican,
of Chicago, was,, during the recent congressional
session, charged by republican papers with work
ing in the interests of the packing houses on the
meat inspection bill.
These same papers point with pride to the
meat inspection bill as it passed congress.
Mr. Lorimer delivered jijjpeech at Chicago
Tuesday, July 17, in which 'he declared that the
meat inspection bill was the work of Chairman
Wadsworth, Speaker Cannon and himself; all of
whom were repeatedly charged by republican
papers with working in the interests of the pack
ing houses.
"Things are mixed" on this meat inspection
subject. In his letter to Chairman Wadsworth,
Mr. Roosevelt charged Senator Beveridge with
having misled him with respect to the contents
of the meat inspection bill. After the bill
became a law, Mr. Roosevelt sent the pen with
which he approved the bill to the Indiana sena
tor, saying that he is entitled to it because it is
his measure. And now come' Lorimer and claims
that the bill was the work of Wadsworth, Can
non and Lorimer. It may be said that this claim
' is supported by the fact that in the bill, as it
t finally passed congress, the packers secured prac
tically "everything they wanted.
JJJ
JUST LIKE JONES
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says: "If the
,, " new government bonds will inflate the national
bank currency lower prices are again to be post
poned." Commenting upon this editorial state
ment a reader of The Commoner writes: "Colonel
Charles H. Jones was driven from the Post-Dis-
patch because he believed in the 'quantitative
theory.' Will not Mr. Pulitizer have to hire a
new editor for the P. D.?"
JJJ
" ' CUT IN TWO
1 ' The Harrisburg (Pa.) Telegraph, republican,
says: "The man who would cut the purchasing
. power of the American dollar in two has as
good reason for being a democrat today as
in 1896 or 1900." Has not the purchasing power
of the American dollar been cut materially, if
, not in two, since 1896? Will the Telegraph tell
its readers what made this cut?
JJJ
NO UNREST?
In a recent newspaper interview Speaker
Cannon said: ' "The truth is there is very little
unrest in this country just now." If "Uncle
- Joe" would make a few inquiries among his
Danville neighbors, he would learn something to
his advantage.
Lincoln, Nebraska, July 27, 1906
Wliole Number 288
f - ' 11 I , , , - - ..
' flfc- Raft? JPM
. t7- r & m&
They Must Lead the Horse to WaterBut Will He Drink?
AMONG THE LEBANONS
Mr. Bryan's Twenty-eight Letter
Before writing of the Holy Land, I shall de
vote an article to the week which we spent among
the Lebanons. While the trip from Beyrout to
Baalbek and Damascus is included in the adver
tisement of Palestine tours, the places visited
are not so intimately connected with Bible his
tory as those of Judea and Galilee.
Beyrout, the seaport for this section of Syria,
has the best harbor to be found on the east
coast of the Mediterranean, and the city is flat-
, urally a place of considerable size and importance.
The population is estimated at about one hundred
and fifty thousand, and the residence portion cov
ers the foothills of the Lebanon range. The prin
cipal industry is ihe production of raw silk, the
mulberry groves extending as far as the eye can
reach.
The road from Beyrout to Baalbek climbs over
the Lebanon range, reaching in one place an alti
tude of about six thousand feet. The view is one
of rare beauty the winding shore of the Mediter
ranean, the terraced mountain sides and the snow
clad peaks combine to form an impressive pic
ture. The far-famed cedars of Lebanon, some
sixteen feet in diameter, still crown the higher
summits, but few of them are visible from the
train. A well built carriage road follows the
same general course as the railroad, but the lat
ter now monopolizes the traffic. The main line
of the railroad runs to Damascus, but in the
Beka, as the valley of the Leonte3 is called at
. this point, a branch has been built to Baalbek,
where a wonderful temple once stood. The city
was founded so long ago that history does not
record its beginning. Arab -tradition peoples this
district. with the earliest of the Bible characters.
The tower of Babel has been located at Baalbek
by one tradition, while another has Cain build
ing a fortress there as a refuge. It is certain
that the city ranks among the oldest known to
history, the location being probably determined
by the presence of a very large spring whoso
"waters would supply a great population. The
name of the city (but a few thousand inhabitants
are to be found there now) indicates that it was
the center of Baal, or sun, worship. It is be
lieved by those who have made research that an
ancient temple, built by the Egyptians or Phoeni
cians, occupied the ground now covered by the
ruins of a later temple built by the Romans. It
is this latter temple which has drawn tourists
from all over the world. It was begun during the
first century of the Christian era, and the work
upon it continued for more than two hundred
years. ' It was dedicated to Jupiter and the Sun,
the worship of these two deities being combined.
The Romans even adopted the Greek name, Helio
polis, for the city, but the Arabic designation,
Baalbek, has survived.
This great temple was laid out upon an Im
mense scale. First a hill was built, filled with
subterranean chambers, and upon the massive
walls which separated these chambers the super
structure was reared. The temple was ap
proached by a staircase one hundred and fifty
feet wide and entered through a hexagonal court
two hundred feet in diameter. Next came the
great court, nearly four hundred feet square, with
an altar in the center. Both of these courts
were open, but had broad colonnades around the
sides supported by granite pillars brought from
the upper Nile. These colonnades were orna
mented with carvings and contained two rows
of niches, three hundred and thirty altogether,
formerly occupied by images. Our guide, Mr.
Alouf, whose pamphlet on Baalbek gives the re-
,- - . nA it
tltMA
