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Commoner,
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The
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WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
Vol. 6. No. 37.
Lincoln, Nebraska, September 28, 1906.
Whole Number 297.
CONTENTS
Mb. Bbyan's Letts
PlATT AMENDMENT AND TbLLEB RkSO-
,.
LTJTION
Abe Men Honored fob Theft?
w u ROBBEBY OF THE MANY" "
- "An Ugly Question" " .,'
'-" A Douglas Pbediction -
"Tby, Tby Again"
Intolebable and Indefensible
comment on cljbbent topics
Home Dbpabtment
Wbethee Common obNot
News of toe Week
KEEP IT BEFORE THE PEOPLE
It must be .plain to every democrat having
at heart the interest of his party and hiB country,
that the organization of the democratic party
must he in sympathy with the people. When
the tariff question was the paramount issue, the
party demanded that the members of the organi
zation should be in harmony with the party's
purpose to reform the tariff; when the money
question was the paramount issue the people
demanded that the members of the organization
should be in harmony with the party platform
on that subject; when imperialism was the para
mount issue, the people demanded that the mem
bers of the organization should be in harmony
with the party's avowed policy. Upon no other
basis can a fight be made. Individuals may dis
sent from parts of the platform they may even
dissent from the party's position on the question
declared by the party to be paramount but can
didates and members of the organization, if
known to be antagonistic to the party's purpose,
can not render any services sufficiently impor
tant to overcome the damage done by their at
titude. So today, when the trust issue Is the par
amount issue, the democratic candidates and the
democratic organization, must stand out boldly
against corporate domination in politics.
NO MAN WHO IS FINANCIALLY CON
NECTED WITH A CORPORATION THAT IS
SEEKING PRIVILEGES OUGHT TO ACT AS A
MEMBER OF A POLITICAL ORGANIZATION,
BECAUSE HE CAN NOT REPRESENT HIS
CORPORATION AND THE PEOPLE AT THE
SAME TIME. HE CAN NOT SERVE THE
PARTY WHILE HE IS SEEKING TO PROMOTE
THE FINANCIAL INTERESTS OF- THE COR
PORATION WITH WHICH HE IS CONNECTED.
This may be accepted as axiomatic. It is the
statement of an old-fashioned truth which none
can dispute. It is simply a paraphrase of the
Bible declaration that "no man can serve two
masters." Upon so simple a proposition there
should be no dispute.
Those who believe with The Commoner in
the importance of having the democratic organi
zation free from the taint of corporate control
are urged to present this matter to their neigh
bors and to apply the principle to their local and
state, as well as the national organization.
Doubtless there are many democrats con
nected with these corporations some of them
officially who would put the good of the party
above the interests of tneir corporations, out
Esuch men know enough about human nature to
mow how Impossible it is to convince the public
)f their disinterestedness, and if they really feel
deen interest in the party's success, they will
hot thrust themselves upon the party in an onl-
ial way or eyen allow themselves to be persuad-.
to become officers of the party organization.
is no reflection upon them personally to say
Kat they can not aid their party in mis capacity.
G. O. P. CONSISTENCY
"ovor. J
Mr. Roosevelt's most popular
policies were taken from the
Democratic platform
And the only opposition their
enactment met with in congress
came from the Republican party
&!!!" Titter! V""SI" nHn&lA L C
I : , : I .
Yet this is the way the voter is asked to "Stand by Roosevelt"
AROUND THE BALTIC
Mr, Bryan's Thirty-seventh Letter
The discussion of the duma occupied so much
space that I was compelled to omit from that
article all mention of Russia In general and to
St. Petersburg In particular; I shall therefore
begin this article with a brief reference to the
Moscovite empire. Two and a half years ago, when
I saw Russia for the first time, I entered by the
way of Warsaw and went to St. Petersburg from
Moscow. While considerable territory was cov
ered, the winter's snows made the whole country
look barren and uninviting. This time our course
lay through the Baltic provinces, and as farming
was at its height, the country presented a much
fairer picture. The cities and villages through
which we passed were busy with life and each
had its church, for the Russians are a church
going people.
St. Petersburg is a fascinating city. The
church of St Isaacs, with its great granite mono
liths on the outside, Its pillars within covered
with malachite and lapsus lazuli, and Its im
mense bronze doors, Is among the world's most
Imposing places of worship; the equestrian statue
of Peter the Great Is famous, and the art gal
lery is of rare merit Russia's bronzes are most
excellent, and her stores exhibit a large assort
ment of furs.
In St. Petersburg I found myself, as on my
former visit, admiring the horses, they being,
upon the whole, the best that J, ,bavo(seen since
leaving America. Possibly the fact that so many
stallions are driven singly and Jn pairs may ac
count, In part, for the handsome and-stylish ani
mals seen upon the streets, but certain it is that
the Russian horse is a splendid representative
of his breed. There is a large park, called the
Point, near the city, and in the evening this park
and the approaches to it are thronged with car
riages and droskies. As the sun does not set
there at this season of the year until between
nine and ten and is followed by a long twilight,
the drives are gay with life until midnight We
did not reach our hotel until eleven o'clock al
though we were among the first to leave the
park.
Speaking of horses reminds me that the Rus
sian coachman has an Individuality all his own.
His headgear Is peculiar, being a squatty beaver
with a spool-shaped crown, but one soon forgeta
the hat in contemplation of the form. The skirt
of the coachman's coat Is very full and pleated,
and the more stylish the equipage, the broader
Is the driver. Beginning at the shoulders, his
padding gradually Increases until about the hips
he is as broad as the box upon which he sits.
This padding is carried to such an extreme that
the coachman sometimes has to be lifted upon
the box, and it is needless to say that he Is prac
tically helpless as well as useless in case
of an accident. It may be that this style of dress
Js. designed for a. .wind break fqr those who are
seated behind the wearer this was one of the
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