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JULY 27, "1906
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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.
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