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The Commoner.
.VOLUME. 6, NUMBER 3Q
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THE LONDON correspondent for the Phila
delphia Public Ledger sent to his paper a
cablegram, from which the following extract is
taken: "William J. Bryan's state of mind with
respect to those who criticise his observations
touching the democratic platforms of 1896 and
1900 was clearly manifested in remarks he made
just before leaving London. About the recent
editorial expressions regarding him in the New
York Times he said: 'The advice of the New
York Times accords well with the sentiments of
many of my critics who advise mo to abandon my
convictions for the sake of securing popularity.
If I have any standing among my fellow country
men it is because my convictions are not pre
pared to suit. You have doubtless heard the
story of the American orator who made an im
passioned speech which thrilled his hearers and
then remarked: "These, gentlemen, are my con
victions. If they are not satisfactory they can'
bo change to suit." While I welcome criticism
and suggestions, it is impossible to renounce' or "
recant for the purpose of gaining the support of
any one. The six million democrats who sup
ported me for president can not be expected to
grovel in the dust in order to gain accessions to
their ranks. It is a long time before the next
national convention. If, when the nomination
time comes, it is found that there is a democrat
better suited to the situation than I am there will
ho no protest on my part. There are other things
in life beside offlceholding. I can, perhaps, be of
greater service to my country out of office than
as president. While I respect the New York
Times, I can not blindly follow its leadership."'
TTJILLIAM H. BELCHER, mayor of Paterson,
. V.V N J., disappeared from his home August
1, 1906. Investigations disclosed that Belcher
was a defaulter. No trace of him could be found
untU July 30, 1906, when he surrendered to. the
Paterson authorities. He says he will accept
whatever punishment the court sees fit to .give
him. The Paterson dispatches say; "Belcher
knew for weeks that the detectives were closing
in on him. They had recognized him in Boston
two months ago, and had followed him to .Bar t
lett, N. H., and points in the White Mountains,
where he had gone in the hope of burying him
self under an assumed name and recovering from
the rheumatism which had crippled him since his
flight from Paterson. He came from Bartjett to
New York nearly a week ago, and apparently
hesitated about giving himself up as he drew near
the city where ho had fallen from popularity to
public condemnation. His boarding place was
found out, and last night, feeling that further de
lay would lead to his arrest and prevent sur
render, he determined to come to Paterson at
once. It was shortlv after i,inn4if .i, ,
stepped off the train. Shunning the streets which
Lit,i an WI1Gre ne lmd Presided, he
,. iiio way to me jan oy oack streets so that
iw wouia not ue recognized before reaching the
prison. Morrison, the night keeper, opened the
loor, the former mayor walked in, told who he
aras, and asked to sea KhfiHfp rwvh rrtii,'
Jold the sheriff that he had been wandering over
', i T Vr. Ul UUUL no was Slad to get back
and take his nunishniGnt. t n or.. i. .i
not for myself, for I am wholly to blame, but
w , 4,UU1 tjumuiitt wno lost their money. I
iit . , r Lllue anu tnen start over again.'
ielcher had only $17.40 a-n,1 n i,i mnzl it i ....
possession His clothing was worn, the trousers
being badly frayed, and hia Tmi. n,T """ iir
jere . unkempt and bristling. He had aged great-
v . u. lumuvtj, una nis nair, merely streaked
vith-gray a year ago, was almost white."
.-"v
lIVP'J' R' HERMAN, writing to the Denver
I1YJ. News, says that thn mt imnnnnt ik-,i-
ZlCtJh?CCQ? ssi0n ot congress was
hv , "'" "" i Mr. Herman's opinion,
by the enactment of that law, the high pro
tective tariff maintained for the benefit of the
rnt.h wn M ' J " Le ma received a
i fcnT "ulIUttU Buy: "iflven so slight
V ChanKO as tho rnmnwnl rti nnf,r l- .
t --"iivj vi. uiuui; uuiiiB ner cai-
SZ IX,: luu-wliai imoroBc to tne country. Al
cohol that now costs from $2 to $3 per gallon, if
allowed to remain on the free list,' can be made
to sell for fifteen to twenty cents per gallon as
it does now in Franco. Think what this one
item alone means there is scarcely an art that
alcohol does not enter into. It enters into your
chemistry, into the coloring of your clothing, Into
paints of all kinds, and when it comes to using
it for fuel it is a competitor of gasoline, and in
that capacity Its uses are limitless; it will be
used to run automobiles and for cooking for
everything gasoline can be used for and many
things it can not be uBed for, it is more harmless
and healthful. But the great lesson that it will
teach is the monumental fallacy that protection
protects; that we need protection in order to
stimulate infant industries when as a matter
of fact the removal of restriction from this one
item will start a whole line of industries, which
would otherwise be unknown. Only today a gen
tleman told me he intended to organize a com
pany to engage in the manufacture of alcohol
from the sawdust now going to waste in Colorado.
When l)otatoe3 get cheap at Greeley they can
turn them into alcdhol; the same can be said
of the fruit. At any rate they can convert all
of their waste product to profitable use. Manu
facturers have for years ben trying to compete
with Germany in the manufacture of analine dyes,
but the ninety-cent tax. on alcohol shut out the
manufacturer of dyes in the United States be
sides giving Germany a monopoly of the trade,
thereby compelling us to pay trust prices for the
manufactured article. The value of this one art
icle consumed in the United States is from $3,
000,000 to $5,000,000. The manufacturing of this
article in the United States will employ American
workmen, the pet hobby of the protectionists." '
CONGRESS DID NOT remove the tax for the
benefit of the Filipinos, but it imposed a
new and odious tax. The New York Evening
Post says: "A bill Imposing a tax of 100 per
cent upon the cheap grade of cottons which the;
Filipinos most use, was reported to the- house
on January 25; on February 9 it was called up.
and passed without a division; in the senate, it
was sent to Lodge's Philippine committee, and
on February 22 fitting day! was reported out
and passed without question or division. Now,
who originated this legislation, and with what
motive? It was not proposed by the Philippine'
government. It was stoutly opposed by our own
collector of customs at Manila. But certain cot
ton manufacturing 'interests' of New York asked
for it. On what ground? Frankly and brutally,
on the ground that they could not compete with
Englishmen in making this particular kind of
cotton, as their looms were not adapted to mak
ing 'splits;' therefore the poor Filipino must be
forbidden, practically, to buy them, and compelled
to purchase the more costly American product.
No meaner, greedier piece of legislation has ever
been enacted, but congress passed it without de
" bate, and the president signed it without a pro
test. Yet, we know, of course, that we are treat
ing the Filipinos with a generosity unparalleled
in the history of colonization or of cant!"
K'-'Qy
-71
DR. MARY E. WALKER, who was honored
with a commission in the union army during
the civil war, has tendered to the county of Os
wego,. N. Y., her beautiful country home with a
tract of 230 acres, the same to he used as a place
to maintain persons under twenty years of age
convicted of violating the law. An Oswego dis
patch to the New York World says: "All that
Dr. Walker asks in return is that the county
petition the legislature in January to give up its
county jail and to legalize the method she sug
gests for reforming prisoners. Dr. Walker es
tablished a sanitarium for consumptives several
years ago at 'Bunker Hill,' and treated all who
applied and were without means to pay free of
charge. She urged state institutions along simi
lar lines and with their advent refused longer to
treat charity patients, but offered to provide them
transportation to the state institutions. 'My latest
desire is again to try to better humanity,' said
Dr. Walker in reference to her offer to give
"Bunker Hill" to the county. 'Our penal institu
tions for old and young are, in my judgment,
worthy of the days of the rack and the stake.
Two hundred years have modified these condi
tions somewhat, and now we take our offenders
against law and society, enclose them behind
thick walls and strong bars, leave them there
working a little each day under taskmasters, until
long years of sentence have expired, when they
are turned out upon the world, if not mental and
physical wrecks, more hardened and toughened
than when they entered. It would be more hu
mane to execute such criminals when they are
first sentenced than to treat them as we do. I
don't care how bad a boy is there is a lot of good
in him if the right person will develop and bring
it out. First it would be necessary to enclose
"Bunker Hill" to insure confinement to the tract.
Suitable buildings of ordinary construction for
housing- the prisoners would be necessary, but
they should contain as much light and sunshine
as possible. Each inmate should be compelled
to work a certain number of hours each day in
the fields, and the remainder of the day should
be spent in class-rooms under the direction of
the best teachers. Good clothes, neat linen;
wholesome food, and plenty of it, should be fur
nished. The map should be taken when he en
ters and educated from the beginning to the end.
If the county will accept my offer I will give
$10,000 In cash to help rebuild the place and
pledge myself to raise as much more for the
same purpose.' The value of the estate is $20,000.
The offer will be considered by the board of super
visors of the county at its annual session in No
vember." j
SAMUEL BYERLY Is a clerk in the American
Express company's offices in New York City.
When Secretary of the Treasury Shaw called for
bids for Panama canal bonds, Byrely sent in his
bid.' In the .terms of the bond call, no deposit was
required as an evidence of good faith, so all, that
was necessary for Byerly to'do'wasTt6 "Write his
bid; address it to the secretary xjt the ' treasury';
and spend two cents for 'a postage stamp. In
the award Byerly was glv,en the canal bonds,
amounting to $5,806,000, and w:as notified by ,the
treasury department to have his money forth
coming August 1. ,He sold his option to a New
York firm, reaping a profit thereon, amounting to
$20,000.
THE WAR DEPARTMENT in inviting bids for
$1,000,000 Philippine certificates, specifies
that "each bid must be accompanied by a certified
check of one per cent of the face value of the
certificates bid for, as a guarantee, such check
to be returned, after the making of the award,
to the unsuccessful bidders." Referring to the
war department's call for bids the Wall Street
Journal says: "Ths is what ought to have been
specified in the case of the Panama bonds. Such
a rule shuts out 'postage stamp bidders,' irre
sponsible speculators having everything to gain
and nothing to lose, and people, who like to ob
tain a free advertisement at the expense of the
government." ,
T T IS NOT AT ALL strange that the New York
1 clerk engaged in the enterprise which netted
him $20;000. The wonder is that the precaution
taken by the war department was not long ago
adopted by the treasury department. Byerly is
not the first enterprising man to profit in these
bond transactions, in 1893 when Mr. Carlisle
made one of his bond offers during the Cleve
land administration, several persons adopted tho
Byerly plan. One man in Boston, as we remem
ber it, cleared $150,000, so it was reported In tho
newspaper dispatches of that day, by making a
successful- bid and then selling his option. This
Boston man attracted a great deal of attention at
the time because he made a trip to the national
capital and made his negotiations in person. At
the same time, a New York bootblack' adopted
the same plan, expended only a two cent stamp,
clearing, so we were told by newspaper dispatches
of the time, $15,000.
HUDSON MAXIM, the inventor of smokeless
powder, speaking to a representative- of
the Washington Post, said: "There will be need
of guns just so long as there is a man left to
covet the property of another mam We may have
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