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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 1906)
m V f - B3B .4 t-jv i 2 party organization. It Is no reflection upon a railroad attorney or a corporation attorney to say that he can not servo two masters. No on who Is not consumed with egotism and Inordi nately vain would imagine himself able to de cile impartially between the people on the one side and his corporation on the other. Let every aspirant for a position In the party organization bo scrutinized. If his present posHon or his past record is open to objection, let him stand aside. The party has more impor tant work than apologizing for its representatives, and no representative ought to desire to mako himself an issue. The corporations will attempt to, control the organization, and they will have candidates for every vacancy from precinct com mitteeman to the top of the organization. The people must have their candidates, and it is well to begin at once and pick out the right man for' each, place and have him ready. The party has a splendid chance to win. Its principles have been vindicated. It stands upon the people's side of all public questions. All that it has to do now is to convince the public that It can bo trusted, and it can not win the con fidence of the public if it loads itself down with objectionable and odorous representatives. Draw the line not in anger but in fairness and justice, and see to it that the party organization is clean and incorruptible. Organize! Organize now, and put only trust worthy men on guard! A ROOSEVELT VICTORY, INDEED! A few days prior to the recent election, the Philadelphia Public Ledger urged the Roosevelt administration to withhold its support from the republican machine in Pennsylvania, pointing out. "Mr. Roosevelt is celebrated as a man who Insists that mere talk is fatal and that the doers of deeds are to be the savers of the United States." The Public Ledger said: ' "The people of Pennsylvania, at last, after . a dreary and Jong season of shameful ac quiescencein the most degrading system of state and municipal government of which' the annals of 'free government have any rec ord, nave begun to be doers of the deed. There never was in any republic in ancient orT modern times a scheme of government any more dangerous to personal liberty, business health, moral standards' or sound administra tion than the Quay oligarchy, .which, -aa agent for corrupt corporations and thfe aggre gated vice of the commonwealth, Tiad sub stituted tho principle of bargain and .sale for free -elections and a fair count. The system had proceeded so far that Pennsylvania's government, instead of being the Keystone which contributed strength to the arch of sunlon, was .a spot so Weak that it elicited concern as to the soundness of the structure 'of. free .government. When the people begin to rise and apply the remedy Speaker Cannon, in his brutal commercial way, comes to Penn sylvania and says: 'Behold this state! Its manufactured product is over two billions annually, and shall we incontinently thrust corruption aside? By no means. Vote for the gang and corruption.' The argument is based tra-false .pretense and fraud. It is an im pertinence. It is not necessary that the state should be politically rotten in order to pre serve its trade. And as for the president and his administration, no words can be se vere enoughnot even the words which the president speaks himself in and out of season in denunciation of recreant and careless citi- tn?!i!Sr'to'characterIze a deliberate attempt Jr?W the conmonwealth back into the S.?fl organization -and a system of un American government that exemplifies all 11, wra-n- M' ,M Bartchfeld in which that Ien?b olX -the victory in Pennsylvania tobTbSotS victory!" The Public Ledger's headline over ths interview is: "Representative Bartchfeld declares that the president saved Pennsylvan a" ratSation. s.J'JSt eon- iv ir,i.v, 7 .. VIVituy ko mat and Z J??m. l ,gne Pennsylvania will not wf.. " LUUL KUia "or salvation." The ROQBevfilf. n.r1mJnlciv.nH i- , . mch to do with vT7; r ""r '"r "av.e nart T adevanG: - vw w,w iicupm oi i-ennsylvanla, when thv remember that th ur ,i,ti: ' T. fe" "i6? a Wo JoV"0 t "S& to 'res K Z The Commoner. VOLUME 6, NUMBER Keep Your Eye On This Bill The American "Bankers' nRROp.1n.Hnn 4 one sion at Washington City, has decided to make a determined move in behalf of asset currency. Associated Press dispatches say that Ghairman Fowler of the house committee on currency, and Comptroller of the Currency Ridgley, attended the session, and "the plans determined upon met with their full approval." The Washington cor respondent for the Chicago Tribune says that "for the first time in many years there is a chance that the long needed reform in the cur rency may be accomplished." By "reform" ' is meant asset currency. Whether it is known a3 emergency currency or by some other harmless sounding name it is the polioy against which republican papers preached vigorously several years ago when it was presented in the Fow ler bill and the Aldrich bill. Then they told us there was not the slightest danger of such a .measure being seriously considered; and now it is plain from the tone of these republican papers that many editors, who heretofore condemned the policy, are now prepared to embrace it; that many editors who are on record as denouncing the policy as absurd are now preparing to call it the "most patriotic and business like proposition that has ever been presented "to the people." It is plain the American people are face to face with a determined effort to force upon them an asset currency, and this effort is to be made by men who, a few years ae;o, proteVed vigor ously against the restoration of bime'a.lism. Then they protested against a "fifty cent dollar," but now they are pleading earnestly for a no cent dollar. Then they wanted the money which tho people are to use to have "a solid and substantial basis;" but now they want money issued on wind and they want to furnish the wind. . It will be well for the American people to "LEGALIZED BOSSES" Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte has sug gested "a legalized boss." This "boss" is to be chosen by popular vote, and Mr. Bonaparte thinks that American politics would "then be "bossed" in a thoroughly patriotic way. It is not likely that Mr. Bonaparte's sugges tion will appeal, to a considerable number of people. tJnder popular government the people need no bosses. "Under any circumstances it would be difficult for a boss to labor so as to ad vance ' the public Interests rather than his own selfish interests. It would be difficult for him to throw away the ambition to be a real boss and to pile up wealth through his boss-ship; it is true also that anything which tends to deprive the in dividual citizen of the realization that great re sponsibility rests upon him is a great evil. Not only must the government be brought closer to the people but it must be kept there, and to that end the individual must not 'be per mitted to surrender any larger proportion of the duty of participating in "the government than he has already surrendered. The evils with which we are confronted are not to be remedied "by putting the people to sleep under the impression that public interests will he cared for by any one to "'horn the people may .have delegated the authority to thinfc and act for them. ".Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" now, as heretofore, and the man who is too lazy to think and to discharge the duties devolving upon the citizen of a great government like ours, needs to be shaken out of his lethargy. mIfi?? rank nd me o the American people will think for themselves and attend the pri maries of their party, voting as they think, and , driving out the little bosses that have so long wielded influence in American politics, the prob lems attending popular government will be solved in a patriotic way and public evils will be re duced to a minimum. RETIREMENT OF SECRETARY HITCHCOCK i, ?hxe aPnroacnInS retirement of Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock is calling forth numerous and deserved words of praise for the sEdM administration of the department under his charge. Secretary Hitchcock has been so busv Eaflfe hafh8 k " Apartment tV , .has had no time to indulge in "snell binding tours" and the. giving of advice to the public And during his incumbency a tremendous amount of work has been done. Fraud 1 ls been disclosed in high places and has been relentleS? pursued and punished. This, too, hL been done without any flourish of trumpets or roll of drums prepare for a systematic campaign along these ines. Soon Americans will be hearing-if, ,nd they have not v already heard it through their local sages-that there is something radically wrong with our currency, and that "a moro elaa. tic currency" or "an emergency currency"! necessary to meet the demand bf "business "Elastic currency" or "emergency current" 1 by whatever aiame it may be known it I Z same old asset currency for which Congressir Fowler has for years contended; the same ? rency provided for in the Fowler bin in The Mc' Cleary bill, in the Aldrich bill and in smlr" measures every one of which measures wa condemned by republican editors and repudiated by republican orators, the people being Msurecl that there was not the slightest danger that ho republican party wouldadopt such measures But the advocacy of such measures after election day eminently characteristic of . the republican The national banks have altogether more power than they should have. The enormous l bonw&nW eD&yedJ?y national 'banks sh0U be withdrawn, rather than increased. The asset currency is the thing for which the money Sust it JZ Ta,rS ed one of the things it most desires. It will be a sorry day for (he ??Z l Pple When sleeP 'e soundly as LP?25 iGS money samblera to place upon rlf J utLb00ks sch a measure as Is contem plated by the American Bankers' association. Do not forget to drop your representative and your senator a line to- let him know that your eyes are upon him. Tell him frankly that the man who goes on record with a vote in favor of asset currency places Upon himself an Indel ible brand the brand of Wall Street. Secretary Hitchcock -has avoided the spectacular, " and has conducted the "business of i his office like any careful and prudent business man would conduct -his private business a method that will appeal to a people who have grown inflnitelv weary of the spectacular, which -accomplishes nothing. In short, his work has been such as to attract attention to the work more than to the man who has accomplished It, and the public Is well satisfied with the results of that work. Well nigh universal regret will be felt that Sec retary Hitchcock finds it necessary to retire, but when he does retire he will be followed by the sincere thanks and well wishes of a people whom he has ably and consistently served. JjJfi ' THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATORSHIP Winston Churchill's campaign against rail road domination in New Hampshire has resulted in no election of governor at the polls, the New Hampshire . law ' requiring that a candidate " In order to be elected must receive a clear ma jority. As a result Mr. FJoyd, the republican candidate, must go to the legislature for his certifi cate of election.. It is now rumored that Mr. Churchill will appear before the legislature with the proposition that it would he well to side-track Mr. Burnham, whose affiliations with the Boston and Maine railroad are entirely too close to make him of much service to the people in their revolt against corporation rule. The inference is that Mr. Churchill will offer himself as a senatorial candidate. This may be .all well enough, but if the People of New Hampshire insist upon having a republican senator who is really opposed to railroad control, why not solve the problem by returning William E. Chandler. The return of nandler to the senate would be just what the. Minneapolis Journal calls it, "poetic justice." we was defeated by the Boston and Maine rail road influence because that .corporation could not control him. He possesses ability of a high order, ' lie wields an influence that is felt, and he is no mans man. No one doubts Mr. Churchill's sin cerity of purpose, but why experiment- when the opportunity affords to malce doubly sure? JJJ MORE TOM JOHNSONS i"T?u Llncoln (Neb.) Journal,, republican, ad-t mits that "Tom Johnsons with an. interest in. street car affairs are not found in every commu nity." That Is true, tout Tom Johnson's flght will encourage imitators so that there, will be likelv to be more of his kind in the future than there have been in the past. One brave fighter is worth a regiment of cowards. - M4.fc, ytA'fr w f -if ftnwijg m.' . 4$ A, i Hkh, Bs WllH &N tLt jV ra5w -' ' irr fi.ijmJh iCTi i m . Um, .j EST