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VOLUME 6, NUMBER 33
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The Commoier
ISSUED WEEKLY
A
' WXIiLIAM J.BttYAN
M--,i , Editor and Proprietor.
RlCHAUD L. MKTCALKB
Associate Editor.
CllAJiucs W. I3UYAW
Publisher.
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Onicc 824-330 So. 12th Street.
Entered at the postorilec at Lincoln, Nebraska, as second
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Address all communications to
THE COMMONER, Lincoln. Neb
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The Commoner.
Pertinent Political
Pointer
by
MR. BRYAN'AT HOME
Mr. Bryan, accompanied "by Mrs. Bryan' and
daughter Grace, arrived at New York in the after
noon of Thursday, August 30. An informal re-
ception was given at the Victoria hotel, followed
' 'by an address by Mr. Bryan at Madison Square
' Garden in the evenlne.
v.,,'1. ' ' "
"'l' ' i Thn nrnerrnm nlitltnorl frvn "MV "RvvtiTi a nlinnf
'' ' ! as follows: Friday afternoon, August 31, rheris"
to be given a public reception at .New Haven,
, rV. - Corin.; and Friday evening he will he given. a 're-v-y
ception at Bridgeport, Conn. Saturday, Septem
; her 1, he is to visit Jersey City, N. J., and other
. , New Jersey cities, returning to New York Sat
urday evening, where he will take part in a din
ner given by newspaper men,
Mr. "Bryan will remain in the east Sunrlnv.
September 2, and Monday, September 3, when he
will leave fofChlcago, reaching there Tuesday,
September 4. In Chicago he will be entertained
in the afternoon and evening of September 4, by
the Jefferson and Iroquois clubs. He will reach
his home in Lincoln in the afternoon of Wednes
day, September 5, where he will be given a re
ception by his immediate neighbors. The recep
tion at Lincoln will take place at 7 o'clock, on
the state house grounds.
Mr. Bryan will remain at his home, Fairview
for several days and on September 11 he will be
given a reception at St. Louis. On September 12
ho will go to Louisville, Ky., and September 13
to Cincinnati to participate in the receptions
given in those cities.
JJJ
"The president is still in favor. of tariff re
vision," declares Governor Cummins, of Iowa
With the accent on the "still."
Following are extracts from bulletins issued
the democratic congressional committee:
The express companies form about as com
plete a monopoly as could be organized. They
have divided up the territory, among them and do
not compete over the sarnie lines or within the
same area. Their operations extend over 158,000
miles of railroad and there are only four of the
them the' Adams, the American, the United
States and the Wells Fargo. These are said to do
90 per cent of all the express business and they
also exercise control over some of the small com
panies outside of their exclusive fields, but hav
ing connection with them. This virtual monopoly
of the express business has been under no sort
of control, but will now, like the railroads, have
to fllo their schedule of rates and make account
of their business to the interstate commerce com
mission, so we shall soon know more about these
close corporations and may hope to have their
exorbitant rates modified to a reasonable extent.
The express companies are common carriers, as
the railroads are and with whom they are closely
allied. The reports of the railroads for 1904
shows that the express companies paid the rail
roads $41,000,000, which is said to be about fifty
per cent of their gross earnings. Tbat there
is a close alliance between the railroads and the
express companies is shown, as several directors
of each are directors or officers of railroad com
panies. There is a strong suspicion that when
the inside affairs of the express companies are
exposed that it will be found that large amounts
of money have been paid to republican campaign
funds and for lobbying purposes to prevent hos
tile legislation, such as the life insurance compa
nies have been exposed in doing..
The Stensiand bank failure again calls atten
tion to the fact that bank inspectors too often
neglect the little detail of inspection.
Mr. Rockefeller is having his likeness painted
In oil. "And we'll have to pay for the oil"
mournfully complains the Johnstown Democrat. '
An American railroad builder is now talking
of building a railroad to the pole. This is the
first real assurance that the pole is reachable.
"We will accept the new rate law without a
light, says a prominent railroad magnate. Now
we see where the Aldrich amendments come in.
Mr. Fairbanks should be closely .watched by
the Cannon boomers. Mr. Fairbanks might en
deavor to replace the Cannon hot air with a few
icy uiasts.
n North Carina lyncher has beon sentenced
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but
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The disagreement with Germany over our
lack of reciprocity on tariff concessions is lead
ing to complications that may bring on a tariff
war -with that country. The German ambassador
on July -31, according to the Washington Star,
delivered a virtual ultimatum to the department
of state that, as President Roosevelt has receded
from his agreement to urge congress to recipro
cate, in return for the concession of the minimum
tariff that the maximum tariff will be imposed by
Germany. This action by the German govern
ment was evidently brought about by the publi
cation of the agreement between President Roose
velt and the republican leaders of the congres
sional campaign, to make the issue of the cam
paign on the "standpat" policy. The German
emperor may not be as good a poker player as
President Roosevelt, but he understands the game
enough to know what "standing pat" means, and
thinks that a public declaration for continuing
the present tariff policy, is entirely inconsistent
with keeping the agreement to induce congress
to reciprocate with Germany in return for the
concession of the minimum tariff. This ultima
tum will bring matters to & climax, unless Presi
dent Roosevelt can induce the German emperor
to believe that the Oyster Bay agreement with
the republican leaders is nothing but a part of
the intricate political game he has to play to
prevent a tariff war between rival republican
factions. But to the people of the United States
it is a much more serious matter, a large and
lucrative export business with Germany is threat
ened with extinction, for the maximum tariff
rates, now proposed, are so high as to be pro
hibitive and were so intended to be. The ques
tion is, will our farmers endorse this republican
"standpat" 'policy that is destroying the markets
abroad for their surplus products and at the
same time, by fostering trusts at home, has in
creased the cost of what the farmers buy -nearly
one half?
From the meagre reports of the doings of
the .Panama commission most of them, especially
our $10,000 a year secretary, seem to spend their
time on trips to and from Panama on the gov
ernment ships where everything is furnished free
by the taxpayers. This make the water fly, if
not the dirt, and is cheaper than living on shore.
does not require Dun's index 'figures to verity thl3
large increase in prices. It is also now acknowl
edged by , the republican leaders that the trusts
sell their products cheaper abroad than to our
own people. It is also certain that .wages al
incomes of the workingmen, . small tradesmen,
clerks and . wage earners generally have not in
crease! in (like proportion to the increased cost
of living, for whereas it now takes $1.48 to buy
what cost $1 In 1897 incomes have only increased
on the average 14 per cent, so that if a wage
earner was getting in 1897 $15 a week, he now
gets $17.10, if he has received the average in
crease. The increased cost of what he buys is
nearly half as much again, not including rent
How much rent has increased an be settled by
each, individual for himself. In most of the large
cities rents have fully kept pace with, the in
creased cost of living and the cost of building ma
terials has followed the general trend of prices.
In some small cities and in villages rents have
not increased in the same proportion, but wages
there have also not Increased as much.
. The voters of the United States in each con
gressional district will have to decide when they
vote next fall, which party best represents their
interests. The republicans stand pat . and will
not revise the tariff in any particular. They point
to trust high prices as an evidence of the pros
perity the tariff has produced and they keep dis
creetly silent about the much less increase of
salaries and wages. The democrats are pledged
to revise the tariff by greatly reducing the ex
cessive rates that now shelter the trusts. That
would result in a reduction of high trust prices,
because if the trusts did not reduce prices, im
portations of foreign goods would come in and
compete with the products of the trusts. The
reduction in the cost of living would virtually be
an Increase of salaries and wages, because the
money earned would buy more, or it would take
less money to provide for . the necessities of a
family or. person. The wise voter, who investi
gates the tariff issue, unless he is one of the
protected class, is certain to decide that the
democratic policy is best for his pocketbook.
The most partisan republican newspapers of
which the St. Louis Globe-Democrat is a shining
example are seizing with avidity the fact that
'the cotton mills of New England have raised the
wages of their employes five to fifteen p.ex cent
Of course the fifteen per cent increase is for
the officers of the cotton mills and the five per
cent for the workingmen and working women
As an indication of how little wages the cotton
operatives are paid, the June issue of the Mass
achusetts Labor Bulletin contains the results of
a personal inquiry concerning what is called the
distribution of wealth. That inquiry was intend
ed ta include certain classes of women . workers
embracing for the most part the better paid occu
pations. As many of the cotton weavers are
women, what they are paid will.wshow the neces
sity' for an increase of wages, especially as the
cost of living has increased 48 per cent. The
report of the above mentioned inquiry shows that
women weavers were paid $410 a yeart or $1.36 a
day and these are the highest paid operatives
except a few men who manage and care for the
machinery. Some of the, employes are paid as
little as 50 cents, a day. Five or even ten per
cent increase will hardly leave these workers
anything after paying their bills, in these times
of high prices and trust prosperity. The republi
cans will, have to exhibit a better showing than
this to stop the revolt of the working people
against the republican party,
The whole tariff issue turns on whether 'he
people of the United States will decide to continue
paying high prices for all they buy and continue
to add to the enormous profits of the protected
trusts. There can be no dispute that the cost of
living has increased 48 per cent since the present
tariff law was enacted. Every housekeeper
knows this is true from personal experience, it
The Canadian government, to prevent the
"dumping" of American trust products,' especially
those of the steel trust, has increased the tariff
duty on any product sold cheaper there than in
the country from which it is exported. Yet the
republicans have been trying to make the voters
belieye that our trust products are not sold
cheaper abroad than at home.
Mr. Rockefeller says his fortune is less than
one-third of a billion dollars. However much
his fortune may be, he does not pay any more for
the support of the United States government than
any ordinary man. In fact, the tariff and internal
revenue taxation rather favors the buyer of the
highest quality of goods. And yet the republican
campaign for congress is to be run on the basis
of letting well enough alone and "standing pat"
on the- plundering tariff that protects the trusts.-
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