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The Commoner.
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FROM THE PEOPLE
FOR THE SCRAP-BOOK
THE PBSlMiLRY PLEDGE
I' A fJffrlr ltt YSXfll'J-tn ff'nr.A TajI1am1 l A .
r deeply true. An absolute truth Js final. Right
have is right to trade. What warrant has
ly government to withdraw another person's
property, because ho chooses to trade? W. D.
. Bliss' Encyclopaedia of Social Reform argues
lengui lor. ireo trade. Cheap labor is apt
be inferior in quality or quantity, etc. Gov
lor J. R. Rocers sava trade fa hnnnflnlnl ami
iould not tie restrained W taxation. But why
Dt consider the simple right to copy freely In
Jived lnriEht to life (nrimaril'vl or rlcrht. in hVn.
mfficiont and trust in the impotence of righteous
ness to reveal how rightjy to procure govern
ment funds? Everv One Ollfrhf. fn kpo Rmrin nrln.
fciple -of just taxation or a substitute for it. It
jertamiy is not optional with any government
mat there is inalienable rlEht to must not bo
taxed. No taxation should be, except enough .to ,
pay cost of what the neonle are morallv oblieatod
Ito have and, I suppose, to have supplied for them '
tby the government. Government ownershin of
minor resources might pay government debts'
anu men suosziuite taxation aitogetner,
S. W. Hickox, Wakefield, Neb, -I believe if
every democrat would try to get the voters in
his precinct put, democracy would win, but when
we' stay at home and 1st the corporations give the
dolegateff the choice of the candidates, wo are
but thdir slaves; rSo I would say,, democrats at-'
tend the primaries,1 'the caucuses and the conven
tions. Don't fail to vote, and see if you can't
persuade at least one of your neighbor to v$te
for honest' government I am a cpnstant reader
of The Commoner, and when I can, I give It to
my neighbors; Get them in, the habit of reading;.
The Common'er and you will get them In the
habit of" voting right When you find an article
in Tho Cbmmoner that particularly appeals to
you, cut it out' and tack it up where others' can.
read it. You will find lots of good ones. G.e't the
voters to study .politics, and they wil -vote in
telligently. As long as the party stand.s. by the',
principles advocated by Mr. Bryan, you will find
me" :in- the ranks ever willing to do all in m
power to help carry the' party 'to victory,
Al G. LaGrange, Worthlngton, Minn. If tho
"cartoonist of our paper is short of .material, I
would suggest the following: As the elephant
is the exponent' of the republican party, or g. o.
p, which means the great octopus party, I would'
suggest that the, four legs of the elephant be sub
divided into eight tentails or suckers and
that one of these suckers should have for its
co-efficient or. money-valve, J. P. Morgan,, who is
doubtless a lineal descendant and heir-at-law of
the Morgan, the Ladrone pirate, who infested the
high seas three hundred years ago, and J. Dodger
Rockefeller for another; Carnegie, the modern
Robin Hood, who divides his loot with the people,
and so on, and as this is to be a lean year for
the g. o. p.'s,' let him be drawn in skeleton form.
R. B. Wilson, Emmett Idaho I suggest that
a public caucus be held preceding the primary in
each precinct, at which caucus a long list ot
planks for a platform be formulated and at the
primary each democrat be given a chance not
only to choose delegates to represent him at the
conventions, but also to approve or disapprove
of the various possible or probable planks to be
adopted in his party's platform. Six years ago
the central committee in Idaho chose the dele
gates from the various precincts to attend the
state convention at which convention a platform
was written and published. When the county
conventions met they could do nothing but ratify
a platform thus made. We have improved
enough to hold two primaries, one to choose
delegates to a state convention and another
later primary to choose delegates to a county
.nominating convention. Last election the county
delegate convention adopted no platform leaving:
the state convenA4on to write the platform with
out the people having had an opportunity to ex
press their views. Such orocedure does not tend
to arouse the enthusiasm of the rank and file.,
Tiotnrvrnv mite its trust in the neople and should
encourage a more direct expression of the people.
Referring the piauorm to me yeupie wuuju uavw
-fcft offenf nf nrodunlne an intelligent and enthu-
tUlastic constituency just as the referendum would
duce an Intelligent and patriotic cmzensmp.
Life
Life's a gamo of go and hustlo, life's & thing of
rush and bustle,
Life's a play of brain and muscle, life's all
jump and buzz and whirr;
Life's a gamo at whoso beginning all tho world is
set a spinning,
That the very thought of winning is itself a
splendid spur.
Life's a thing of rough-and-tumble, life's a thing
of laugh and grumble,
Life's a thing- of grab and fumble, life's a tiling
. . of jolt and jar; r.
Life's a stretch of daisied meadows, life's a place
of glints and shadows, ' ' ''
, Life's a thing of maids and widows, .smllQS
and tears, and there you are.
Life's a thing of self-styled wlnnors, millionaires
, and saints and sinners,
, Men who have and haven't dinners, thing of
riff-raff Btcal and toll ; "
Men who go their ways a-faughing, men who" go.
their ways a-chaffing, '!v,t
Men who go their ways a-quauTng, men whoso
only thought is spoil.
Maidens wise and maidens witty, maidens beauti
ful and pretty,
,. Painted women 0 the pity! always chang
ing yet the same; ?. .
Thing of low and high endeavor, thing ot push
and pull forever,
Game for dolts and players clover, thing of
love and glee and shame.
But who plays the game a-loving, lifting, helping,
never shoving,
Laughing, singing, turtle-doving through Its
jars and outs and . ins,
With a wife arid 'little laddie or wee lass to vcall
VV him daddie' "' ' ' !y f v
' Doesn't do so very badly he's tho chap"who
"" truly wills. .v ''
Judd Mortimer Lewis', in ' American "Magazine.
. f i
The River of Rest
A, beautiful stream is tho River' of Rest;
, Tho still, wide waters sweep clear and cold, ,.
A tall mast crosses a star in tho West;
A white sail gleams in the West world's gold,
It leans to the shore of the River of ReBt
X4AW lltj ilUVU OUf v WW XUTUt WJk AWOVI
.'
The boatman rises, ho reaches a hand; ' '
He knows you well, he will steer you true,
And far, so far from all Ills -upon land, -
From hates, from fates that pursue and
pursue;
Far over the lily-lined River of Rest
Dear mystical, magical River of Rest.
..
A storied, sweet dream Is this River of Rest;
The souls of all time keep Its ultimate shore;
And journey you east, or Journey you west, '
Unwilling or willing, surefooted, or sore,
You surely will come, to this River of Rest
This beautiful, beautiful River of Rest
' " Joaquin Miller. .
A Song In the Night
Sing, oh oing, for the night is dark, and the dawn
ing tarries long.
And the woe of the land of shadowing wing is
" stilled by the sound of song.
There is never a light on the land tonight; there
1b never a star in the sky,
Only the glance of the lightning's lance, and the
white waves leaping high.
The spabirds swing on tireless wing,
Tho waves, with rythmic beat,
Forevermore along the shore . V
Their world-old song repeat, -:. :'
And borne on winds afar,
The sliver echoes fill - .v
The vault of heaven from star to-star, , ,
The-earth from hill to hill. .
Sing, oh sing, for the night is past, the sun snl
over the sea,
And the heart of the world Is a song .of love and
hope for the days to be;
The terror that flies through the midnight skies
and tho powers of the dark are gone;
Till the music fills the echoing hills, heart of my
heart, sing on!
Longman's " Magazine.
jt
me
Extracts from lotters received at Tho Com
moner ofilco follow:
R. S. Browl, Kansas City, ,Kan. I send you
nino primary pledge signatures.
W. S. Mennlng, Kansas City, Kan. Herewith
find thlrty.flvo signatures to tho primary pledge.
Joseph Horton, Camden, Ohio I ed you
eighteen more signatures to tho primary pledge.
Please send each one a copy of Tho Commonor.
. Earl WIntormute, Wostorn, Neb. I am a. nay&
subscriber to your paper. I Just flaw tho prlmafft
pledge and I gladly send In mine. :
William Burke, Rochester, N. Y. Find en
closed list of primary plodgo signatures. Best
wlshos for Tho Commoner's success. v
As this copy of Tho Commoner may be read
by some one not familiar with tho details of the
primary pledge plan, It is necessary to say that
according to-tho terms of this plan every demo
crat is asked to plodgo himself to attend nil of
tho prlmarlca of his party to bo held between
now and the next democratic national convention,
unless unavoidably prevented, and to secure 'a'
clear, honest and straight-forward declaration of
tho pnrty's position on every question upon which
the voters of tho party desire to speak. Those
desiring to be enrolled can ellhor write to The'
Commoner approving the object of tho organiza
tion and asking to have their names entered pw.
the roll, or they can fill out and mall the blank
pledge, which is printed on page 14.
-i
A GR08VENOR CLAIM
."( (Continued from page 5)
. ''.
During all that tlmo wo have been properous,"
The New York World called' thl"cold,.c6l6sal .
and Impudent falsification of history," , and said'
that it must have astonished those among'hls
hearers whose momorire woro more than ono yo&r
lqng. Then this Now York paper gayo Mr. Rood
these interesting reminders;
"The panic of T873, under republican rule
and after twelve years of high tariff taxation, -was
the most disastrous and tho period of
business depression for five years thereafter
was tho most sovore of any in our history
It was officially csttmatod that 3,000,000'!"
worklngmen were out of employment. Bank-rf
ruptcy was widespread. A tidal wave of
r.uln and distress swept over tho country.
"From 1881 to 188G, under two republican,,.,
tariffs, there were labor .strikes involving. .
22,304 establishments and 1,323,203 workmen.
Of these strikes 9,439 woro for an increase
of wages and 4,344 against reductions of
wages.
"Mr. Reed's party tinkered tho tariff in.
1883. In that year there Were 9,184 business .
failures, Involving $172,874,000. In 1884
there were 10,908 failures, involving $226,
343,000. In the next year, still under the
republican tariff and currency laws, there " '
was a general business depression. More , '
than 1,000,000 men were out of employment.
"In 1890 the McKlnley bill was passed,
and there were 10,673 failures in that year,
and 12,394 tho next, with liabilities in each
year amounting to nearly $200,000,000. Tho"
tariff was raised to nearly 50 per cent, but
wages either stood still or declined, while the
prices of necessaries advanced. The protect
ed manufacturers kept all their 'bonus' as' '4
usual.
"Tramps and trusts, the twin products
of a monopolists' tariff, were practically un
known In this country until wo had endured
uninterrupted republican rule for a dozen;
years. '"
"The worst labor troubles, tho bloodiest
riots, the most destructive strikes, the most"
brutal lockouts ever known in any country
have occurred here under the high "tariffs,
bought, made and paid for by the contribu
tors of the republican campaign funds."
It plight be well for Commoner readers to
clip this statement from The Commoner and have
It in convenient form to show to their republican
neighbors who may have been deceived by th
Grosvenor claims.
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