Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (July 27, 1906)
niljpiwi(jjjiii p.. ipn ""fnf"" "n JULY 27, "1906 3 ? twrnz era more than half a century. The elder Bliss, now past eighty-three, and his wife are enjoying anenviable experience. Their active labors over, ,with minds still alert and with hearts still young, jthey are spending the evening of their lives near ihe scenes of their labors and among the children and grandchildren who have blessed their home. JTheir rest has been earned, and the peace of their latter years is a merited reward. Surely jEhey illustrate the blessedness of lives consecrat ed to a" high purpose and rich in noble service. Copyright. 'J "CURED OF ENTERPRISE" Henry H. Rogers, the Standard Oil magnate, maddened by the attacks upon him, said: "If I ever was diseased with enterprise, I am now cured." Commenting upon this remark, the Wall Street Journal says: "Well, there are others who will catch the disease for happily it is epidemic in the United States. If Mr. Roge'rs refuses to r-lay because he can not dictate the rules of the game, in other words, if Mr. Rogers refuses to engage in business enterprise because public opinion has forced the adoption of new rules lor the purpose of establishing fair play, then the loss is his, not the country's. It is true that Mr. Rogers and men who may think as he does by withdrawing from enterprise would be able to inflict much injury to business, but the damage they might do, Is after all but temporary, for the country Is greater than they, and will soon outstrip them, while other . men, willing to play according to the new rules, take their places." What has come over the spirit of the Wall Street Journal's dreams? It talks just like a Chicago platform democrat. Mr. Perkins' threat to bring trouble upon the world by going out of business was a threat common to the campaign of 189G. Then we were told that if the tariff barons and the money kings were not permitted to dictate they would quit doing business for us. 'And every republican paper froin the Wall Street Journal down to the New York Sun said that the people must heed the threat. ,! The Wall Street Journal has,' indeed, made progress If It has learned that the country is greater than Rogers or any other individual. The democratic speeches of 1896 were full of senti ments sudh as are expressed by the Journal In the editorial referred to. For instance, in ad dressing a gathering of business men at Chicago during the closing days of the 1896 campaign, Mr. Bryan said: "I have said that those who so often assume to be the only business men spmetimes make a great mistake In supposing that the pros perity of a nation rests upon them. I am going to talk today to business men, and I want to say ' to you that in pleading the cause of the farmer and the laborer I am trying to lay a substantial foundation upon which the business of this coun try can be done. If you engage in merchandise and in the exchange of wealth, and suppose that the prosperity of the producer depends upon you, you deceive yourselves. Wealth must be created before It can be distributed. Those who create wealth could live although you should go out of business, but you can not live if the producers of wealth go out of business. I believe that that policy is best for this country which brings pros perity first to those who toil; give them first the inspiration to work and then protect them in the enjoyment of their rightful share of the proceeds of their toil, and their prosperity will find its way up to the other classes of society which rests upon them. I challenge you to find. In the pages of recorded history a single instance where prosperity came from the upper crust of society; It always comes from the masses the foundation of. society." JJJ THE "REAL POLITICIANS" Matthew Arnold says: "Because those hings right and wrong are. really what do gov ern politics and save or destroy states, there fore the few philosophers who alone keep in- sistlng on the good of righteousness and the un profitableness of iniquity are the only real poli ticians." The sentiment so well expressed In the lines ju3t quoted is commended to men of all -parties. It is' a common belief that the politician is a shifty sort of an individual who is successful In laying cunningly contrived plans to catch the un- , "wary voter. He is called a practical politician fcecause he is working for immediate advantage and because he, prides himself on not being both- The Commoner. ored by theories. Ho Is usually represented an having no compunctions of conscience to Inter fere with his plans for success. The late Speaker Reed defined a statesman as "a successful poli tician who is dead." There is more wit than truth in the definition. While It Is true that death often compels a recognition that opponents deny in life, yet it Is not safe to form an opinion of men from post-mortem eulogies, for they often magnify virtues and throw the mantle of charity over short-comings. The statesman is to be judged by his work and his woKs not always appreciated during his life or hnmedlately nfter his death. Neither can we estimate the influence that a statesman exerts by examining contem poraneous criticism or praise. The fame of .really great men grows with the years and the influence of their lives increases in ever widen ing circles. No house can stand -long unless the foundation is good, and so no lasting reputation can.be built except upon the solid rock of prin ciple. Those who "keep insisting on he good of righteousness and the unprofitableness of in iquity" are the only "real politicians," because they build upon assure foundation and their work endures. The principle applies to parties as well as to men. The party that keeps insisting upon "the good of righteousness and the unprofitable ness of iniquity" is building for the future; to insure success it has only to keep along with tho procession of events and apply its moral pre cepts to each new question as it arises. The party that lightly prizes "the good of righteous ness" or is tempted from the right course by the seeming profitableness of iniquity meets at last the fate that overtakes the criminal. JJJ "OBVIOUS" The Washington Post saysj "It Is obvious to all the conjmon sense in America that gold is not valuable because It Is coined, but that It is coined because It Is valuable, and that all 'basic' money partakes of sham that is not as valuable in the melting pot as It Is In the coin." If gold is coined only "because it is valuable," why coin it at all? And why clothe it with legal tender power? And if we only coin money because the ma terial out of which it is coined is "valuable" what about the silver coinage? And if it is "obvious to all the common sense in America" that "all basic money partakes of sham that is not as valuable in the melting pot as it is in the coin," what about the 500,000,000 silver dollars now "current money with thd mer chants," and coined "without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation," at the hateful ratio of 16 to 1? The Washington Post's editorial on the money question should be consigned to "Something Do ing In the Country" the column which the Post uses to poke fun at country newspapers. JJJ WHY NOT ROCKEFELLER? A Washington dispatch says that the admin istration is now bent upon "the dissolution of tho great Standard Oil Trust." According to this in formation "the battle to be waged against the Oil trust" will be "similar to that brought against the Northern Securities company, which sent the merger to the scrap heap." But It will not be overlooked that the con spirators ln the Northern Securities affair are doing business at the old stand, although the particular form under which they operated was "dissolved." Why all this dispositlpn to proceed against the corporation rather than the man?. Is it not strange that all the efforts on the "trust busting" line are directed either against the corporation itself or against some inconsequential persons? The way to dissolve a burglar trust Is to catch and prosecute the burglars particularly the ring leaders. The way to dissolve that gigantic con spiracy against the public interests known as the Standard Oil Trust, is to arrest and prosecute John D. Rockefeller, H. H. Rogers and other lead ing conspirators. The public obtained a hint of the importance of proceedings taken against Mr. Rockefeller per sonally by the persistency he displayed in dodg ing a mere writ of subpoena commanding him to appear before a magistrate and testify. - Have not the people grown a bit weary of boast and bombast? From the first proceeding the "dissolution" of the Northern Securities com pany to the most recent instance the convic tion of the rebaters before Judge McPherson at Kansas City there have been no substantial re sults. In the first instance it was a paper vie- tory, which was not followed up to public ad vantage. In tho latter instauco it was oHcape for tho important criminals and prison sentence for tho go-betweens a broker and his clerk who, by the way, have not yet commenced their sentence. If the administration is serious lot it , pro cure warrants for tho arrest of John D. Rocke feller, H. H. Rogers and their fellow conspirators. There Is abundant testimony and If such a pro ceeding wore placed in tho hands of an able and determined lawyer, while those administra tion exports In tho "Immunity bath" line woro kept in the background, everyone of these power ful violators of the law could be sent to prison. These conspiracies in restraint of trade arc not to be destroyed by tho wiping out of tho form un der which thoy operate. Ingenious lawyers will very readily provido them with another form. But once let it be understood that however pow erful or wealthy men may bo they violato the anti-trust law at their peril and these "captains of industry" will have considerably more respect for the law than they now have. ' JJJ ONE PARTY DOMINATION The Wall Streot Journal cordially approves Secretary Taft's suggestion that tho south break away from the democratic party. Tho Journal says: "With one party dominating tho political thought, theso great questions with which the prosperity of tho people Js involved never receive that accuracy of statement and that fullness of discussion which is necessary for a satisfactory solution." Why not glvo some of tho eastern states New York for instance -warning against tho dangers of one party domination. Tho Journal pleads with tho south to deliver itself from "tho hypnotism of race fear and one party fealty." Why not plead with some of the eastern states to deliver themselves from the hypnotism of tho money power and fealty to the party whose cam paign funds are supplied by tho money power? JJJ PREDICTIONS . Tho New York Sun predicts that tho demo crats will elect the next governor of Now York, and that the next governor of New York will be elected to the presidency in 1908. Referring to this prediction the New York World says that it has a better prediction, viz. that a democratic governor will not be elected in 1900, and a demo cratic president will not bo elected In 1908. But the World has made mistakes. It was cocksure that if the democratic party became "safe and sane," according to the Pulltlzer speci fication, it would win in 1904. But if memory Is not at fault the democratic national ticket was defeated; and not six months ago the World expressed the opinion that the democratic party is dead, when, as clearly shown by current events, it promises to be a very lively factor in the con gressional campaign of 1906 a3 in the campaigns to follow. JJJ ROOSEVELT AND LAFOLLETTE The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal, republican, says: "Senator LaFollette is not in accord with President Roosevelt. Ho is not in accord with the republican majority in congress." Of course Senator LaFollette is 'not In ac cord with the republican majority in congress. .That is one reason why the people have confi dence In the Wisconsin senator. A great many republicans who have imag ined that Mr. Roosevelt and Senator LaFolletto were fighting on the same side in the great con test between public interests and special inter ests are beginning to suspect that "Senator La Follette is not in accord with President Roose velt," or, in other words, that Roosevelt and La Follette are not fighting on the same side. Par enthetically, does anyone doubt which side La Follette is fighting on? JJJ SUPPOSE Referring -to Mr. Bryan's statement that tho quantitative theory of money has been vindicated the Omaha Bee, republican, asks: "Suppose there had been drouths in tho wheat and corn belts, and the weevil had gotten in his work in the cotton belt, and as a sequence tho construction of steam railroads, trolley lines and skyscrapers that have created an extraordinary demand for pig Iron and steel products had been curtailed, what effect would the increased output of the gold mines have had on the farmers, cotton planters and mine and mill workers?" Suppose the wor!4 had come to an end what would have become of all the people? v6L. -i'mA".tmA..i;-