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The Commoner
ISSUED WEEKLY
WlLLTAM J .liUYAH
Kdltor and Proprietor.
IIiouahd It. MxrrcAurK
Afisoclnto Editor.
CllAltLKS W. DllTAN
Publisher.
Editorial Rooms nnd Business
Office 324-330 So. 12th Street.
Entered at the postofllec at Lincoln, Nebraska, as second
class mail matter.
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TATION COP1L.S: Many persons subscribe for friends, in
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tion at the proper time.
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when your subscription will expire. Thus, Jan. 31, '06,
means that payment has been received to and includ
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Address all communications to
THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Neb
Those ice trust magnates seem- to have acted
on the idea that the season does not last long.
The trouble with the "simple life" is that
those who need it most can not afford - to en
joy it.
A number of ball clubs that were winning
pennants last March are now preparing to win
,, pennants next summer.
'''r, ' .
'f Doubtless Mr. Rockefeller will return to Ohio
Just as -soon as the remaining Ohioans work hard
enough to make it worth while'.
The presidential guard who was fined $10
for striking a photographer will probably not de
velop such a decided negative next time.
Alfred Beit, "the richest man in the world,"
. died in London recently. He will now have to
. take chances with the poorest of them.
'. ,TV8t as we Predicted, the dry dock Dewey
the slowest thing that ever plowed the raging
main, is a race horse in comparison with the
Panama canal.
ass ra &r ascJ- ft that
The two Denver reporters who tried to mh
a bank scored just such a failure r as mteht Sp
foXPeGd tdd?,flvrPle f bank bui whowSS
to eait dally newspapers.
It is announced that Mr. Rockefeller will nnt
tooturops ot the old world Vtho TroteXn"";
the, American laborer is -treason to the f e tote
All American laborers who are bBnflVtj S, .'.
Protective tariff could hold SU'j?.
The Commoner.
out stopping their work for a minute.
The mother of Evelyn Nesbit Thaw has
locked herself in a room to escape the importu
nltles of Pittsburg reporters. If the mother had
locked the daughter up more it might not have
been necessary now to lock herself up.
A pillow fight resulted fatally to one of the
Philadelphia participants recently. This should
-be a warning to the eminent republican leaders
who pretend to be opposing the corporations.
One of their feather blows might land on a fatal
spot.
THE PRIMARY PLEDGE
As this copy of The Commoner may be read
by some one not familiar with the details of the
primary pledge plan, it is necessary to say that
according to the terms of this plan every demo
crat is asked to pledge himself to attend all of
the primaries of his party. to be held between
now and the next democratic' national convention
unless unavoidably prevented, and to secure a
clear, honest and straight-forward declaration of
4the party s position on every question upon which
the voters of the party desire to speak. Those
desiring to be enrolled can either write to The
Commoner approving the object of the organiza
tion and asking to have their names entered on
the roll, or they can fill out and mail the blank
Pledge, which is printed on page 15.
Extracts from letters received at The Com
moner office follow:
i J9oSe?h D,avidson' Rus3ellville, Ohio Enclosed
find 29 signatures to the primary pledge.
Hiram Greene, Mabel, N. C I send you
eleven signatures to the primary pledge
Virgil L. Penland, Mountain Grove, Mo In
closed find primary pledge Bigned by 17 true
democrats. Please send m a few blanks
A. D. Fairman, St. Edwards, Neb. Herein
nut f2?iaFr ??d ge' My best effort will be
fall democratic victory this
ihirnf ;fCke Freniont' Ohio Etacldsed find
thirty-eight signatures to-thev primary pledge.
Thomas Handrahan, Kansas City, Kan -I
SgeyU tGen satures to the' primary
-u' ,Ilog?rs' Grant Ky. Herewith find thirty
eight signatures to the primary pledge
l ' AUbritton, New Concord, Ky. I send
you thirty-five signatures to the primary pledge.
oinJ?hli H' Bu,rkhart Vinton, Iowa.-Find el
closed eleven primary pledge signatures.
.Tonn'B. Faltz, Jenera, Ohio. Enclosed find
eighteen names of democrats affixed to the pri
mary pledge. So far as I can see all the demo
crats and some republicans in this county e
in 1908DVer ProsPect of democratic victory
Fred R. Sanders, Pecatonica, 111. Enclosed
StarV"? pIe'dge with twenty two sig
natures. I am sorry this list is not longer but
nnmeT i VGI7 StTOns rePUcan district. ' The
names I do send are very loyal to the cause. I
vZZy wn" win. tb3 " f tbG C0Untry' deraoc
Henry A. Parsons, Kansas City, Kan. Here
unto t SSTff pldP Si8118' I never sat dow
until I filled the list after getting it out of the
mail. I am always willing to help the cause It
a possible to secure 8,000 to 10,000 signatures
to the pledge in this city. There are eight or ton
Pledge lists in circulation in this locality a prS
ent ana they will probably be sent In tote week
They are by men whose names I sent you a few
weeks ago. The following are names of men in
other localities who will be glad to secure sn
tures in their respecUve localities.
DIFFERENT IN ENGLAND
The London & Southwestern railroad com
pany, upon whose line the awful accident at Salis
bury occurred, in which twenty-seven pednle
J7 VCwd5aa accepted ful1 'responsibilThey
admit that the engine jumped the track, and do
not seek refuge behind the claim that the en
gineer disobeyed orders or some one deliberate
wrecked the train. They say they have ne de
'Phis0 itmu8et lnd " a lGgal s?bility:
mis, it must be remembered, is in Emrlnnri il
would be different in the United State? Tf tb
coroner's jury did not acquit ?he company of
Si1i1iSIa,IieJ,t W0Uld at least declI"e to fix resnon
sibility. Then the case would either be dromi
entirely, or individual survivors and the S atives
of the deceased would have to pit their 2
purses against the overflowing coffers o? the ra
VOLUM12 6, NUMBER 2J
road company in courts that have in f ,
cases, admitted obligations to rafroad nvJ7,
that elected them. The English waJ J achine
to the general public. y wI11
JJJ
HE LEFT IT ALL
Alfred Beit, the "African diamond king" ,!,,
a few days ago. He was said to be e 0f
richest men In the world, if not the richlst vZ
years people have been speculating upon the fZ
of qnntfhrAfnf' He,made in diamond fl l
of South Africa and in various allied enterprise?
one of wh ch was the seizure of land be onS
i. xT ' 1 1C liiuuucai enslavement nt
the natives themselves. His fortune was Lti
Sa000 0oo0n0,U1rh?re bGtWeen $600,000,000 ?nd"
$1,000,000,000. Whatever its size, evervlnriv
knows what he left. He left everything After
Vlte the raere accumulauono? wealth
he goes into the great unknown on a level with
the paupers, the princes and the potentates who
have preceded him. Measured by the accumuK
tion of wealth his life was a magnificent suSjcS
Measured by service to his fellowT it was a dfe
mal failure. Nothing that he gained in me could
he take 'with him. He will be remembered
tn-f af?ian h? accumulated a fortune, and
then forgotten But men who never accumulated
fortunes will live in history because the" served
their day and generation. Beit left nothing but
money and he left it all. h
I JJJ
HOW THE CARDS ARE STACKED
(Continued from Page 4)
the United States, show that those at New York
they are everywhere compelled to be withheld.
Nowhere does there exist direct permission for
loaning any portion of same. It is a monstrous
travesty Upon just law that thus (as on Novem-
!?A19?6) compels money to T)e withheld by
5,770 banks throughout the country, and its use
thereby denied at any of such 5,770 banks, to bo
afterwards concentrated and 75 per cent thereof
loaned at sixty-three (practically fewer) other
and favored banks.
"Whether it be attributed to unjust and un
equal law, or (with great reason), to its faulty
execution, such is its practical operations; and
the government is thereby responsible for the
baneful results. '
"What means the plain injunction of law,
frequently repeated, that banks must 'at all times5
e.J2l?! reserves 'on hand in lawful money.'
What more effective method could be de
vised to enable flotation of excessive watered cap
italizations, which have been an invariable pur
pose in creation of monopolistic trusts and cor
porations railroad and industrial, and from which
iV uleSX , ,d towerinS aggregations of predatory
n w Yhlch exa1ct tribute by Sreat incomes, and
absorb just earnings?
"The great natural law of demand and sup-
? I? ?n,e shoul(i regulate the ebb and flow
of the tide of lawful money, has by permitted use
of the reserves at favored cities, been overridden
m favor of the few and already rich, who could
avail of such use. And the ocean of money there
by provided has enabled limitless 'graft' from the
SfSi ' f .ie deals' syndicates and capitalistic
juggles of 'high finance.'
"Let it be clearly understood that the de
posited reserves came from 5,770 banks through
out the United States, being all except sixty
three banks in central reserve cities; that by each
of these 5,770 banks its portion was withheld
from local use by command of law for the only
justifiable purpose of such command of law,
namely, as a money reserve; that such command
of law is an absolute denial of the loan or use of
any portion of same at the 5,770 points of origina
tion of the vast total; and, therefore, that the
pprmissions to deposit, whereby 75 per cent of
such deposits are loaned, mainly by a few banks
m New York, Chicago and St. Louis, constitute
a preference in law or its administration, for the
use of this proportion of the money volume of
the country.
"Substantial repeal of the permissions was
recommended by Comptroller Dawes in his an
nual report December, 1900, to congress, in which
he discussed the danger, which had made itself
apparent years before, of continuing the practice.
Even a gradual repeal, or correction, first maldng
it apply only to Philadelphia and Boston banks,
would probably distress Wall Street. But there
is a consideration more important to the people
of this country than regard for stimulated Wall
Street prosperity, viz.: Equal laws and public
justice; especially regarding the supply of money,
which, is the basis of credits, life blood of all
undertakings, and- measure of all values. Other
wise liberty fails and becomes a sham."
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