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.VOLUME 7, NUMBER 3
The Commoner,
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CURR8NT TOPICS
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DISPATCH llm
estlng (o thos
miiimI Iip narliciilarl.V Inter-
who contend thai railroads
arc hoMl conducted in private hands, was carried
l).V Hie Associated Press under date of Taeoina,
Wnulilmrlnii (imiiiirv r. 'The (llmintcll follows:
Wlllilti tlio novl thirty days .several cargoes of
coal will be received on Panel Sound to relieve the
fuel shortage now existing at Taeoina and Seattle
According to advices received today the steamer
Lyra Hailed from MoJI Monday with 1,01)0 tons
of coal. The steamship Quito Is to bring n,000
Ions and (he steamship Pleiades Is due lfere on
' February I and has 1,000 tons of, coal. Never be
fore in the history of this port has coal had to be
Imported from the orient to meet the local demand.
Owing to the coal shortage many tugs are pre
vented from going outside to pick up vessels and
as a result only sixteen have entered the straits
In four weeks."
O
FORM Hit (1OVI0KNOR M'OONNHLL, who was
also late Indian commissioner, in an inter
view given to an Associated Press correspondent,
in Salt Lake City, Utah, charges gross mismanage
ment of the Indian schools and arraigns the sys
tem by which joung Indian girls are taken away
from their parents and sent to Indian schools. He
alleges teachers in the schools practice great cru
elty upon their charges and that girl pupils are
allowed to he debauched. The blame for those
conditions he places upon Secretary Hitchcock,
whom, he sn,s, he acquainted with conditions dur
ing his tenure of olllce, but who pigeon-holed his
report, lie further says the olllcials of the Interior
department conceal (he true state of affairs from
the president.
i O
THAT there are "a lot of swift minded, rapid
thinking people In public ItVe In Washington"
Is the opinion expressed by the New York World.
The World bases Its opinion upon this statement
of fact: "Senator William R. Hale, of Tennessee,
died March !, l!)0.r. Yesterday the senate trans
acted the usual amount of business and then lis
tened to eulogies of the dead statesman, after
which It 'adjourned as a mark of respect to h's
memory. James Wilson, secretary of agriculture
since March 4, 1SD7, has just resigned the presi
dency of the First National bank of Truer, la
which he has hold ten years. Ills reason Is that
he was too far away to do Justice to the stock
holders and depositors a reason that was as good
nine years and ten months ago as it is now."
O
n MOS PAYNE, Clarksburg, W. Va., writer
f "We notice In The Commoner of .January 4
11)07, under the caption of Current Topics Uie "fol
lowing: Ceneral 11. 10. Lee was born in West
moreland county, Virginia, .January 11), 1S07
Thomas .Jonathan Jackson (Stonewall) was born
on the 21st day of January, 1824, In Lewis countv,
Virginia, now West Virginia.' Allow me to correct
an error as to Stonewall Jackson. He was born
In Clarksburg, Harrison county, Virginia, now
West Virginia. 1 herewith enclose a picture of the
house In which he was born. The house stood
on Main street, but since the war was torn down
and a business block now stands there, and is
owned by David Davlsson."
O
POINTINd OUT that the proceedings in the
anti-trust law are not the only methods 1o
be adopted In attacking the Standard Oil monop
oly, the Sioux t'ltj (Iowa) Tribune savs- "The
monopoly is protected by a proviso inserted
through some of the subtle methods of which the
S andard Is master and as a consequence it eniovs
high protection. This clause in the free list mo-
mi- nun may suan ne imposed on petroleum
or its products equal to the duty imposed by e
country producing It. The result his been that
the Standard has an average of almost 100 or
cem protection, the treasury department Iiav ing
held that the proviso refers to the origin of the
crude oil ami not the place where It was ret ned
,";..,, i.."., , ,"?.L "uoul JUU POi cent. Some
"".' I'uiMisiii'u ugures in tie 0 1, Paint and
Drug Reporter show how the monopoly ben "fits
because of this high tariff. Oil which It sells for
export of 7.H com n iim, i A. ..." . "b l.0L
for -IS cents at wholesale Vo AinerS pu'rcha?
a diuerenco of uo per cent. Another grade, 150
degrees w. w., It sells abroad for 9..1 cents per
gallon In barrels and American consumers pay Vj
cents. If It bo assumed that the monopoly does
not sell abroad below the cost of production ami
I,. ..,,...,. 1.. ..wtnHn.r li ni-lrnu nf fni'nlmi COninOtlt-
in iii;i ui.y iii;;i.ij
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ors, it Is evident that the tariff by indirection stands
between the American consumer and his ability
to purchase kerosene from one-third to two-thirds
cheaper. It must lie rather startling 1o the Amer
ican public to realize that the vast Standard Oil
monopoly has been built up under the shelter of
the protective tariff which had no excuse that it
was fostering infant industry because Rockefeller
and his associates had cornered practically the en
tire business. Under such circumstances the duty
was practically . gift to the trust and enabled it
to pay 40 per cent a year on its capitalization. The
fact that revision and the striking out of this duty
would afford the people relief from the monopoly's
extortion through foreign competition Is another
argument for sjieedy congressional action, espe
cially since such action would help the govern
ment in its own Jight against this combination of
capital."
O
THE INITIATIVE and referendum is growing
in public favor. In his message to the Min
neapolis legislature, Governor Johnson said: "I
would call your attention to the merits of the ad
visory initiative and referendum. This permits the
people of a state, county, city, village or town to
express their views upon questions affecting their
organization and is fast gaining ground upon the
theory that the duly elected otlicers are the serv
ants of the people who elected them and will be
guided by the expressed views of a majority. The
advisory initiative and referendum is but a step
farther than the right of petition, and is not binding
upon their otlicers. The enactment of a law provid
ing for an advisory initiative and referendum can
bo accomplished without a constitutional amend
ment, and I am firmly of the opinion that such
legislation is desirable. There can be, I am sure,
no valid reason against the submission to the peo
pie of a proposed constitutional amendment pro
viding for a direct initiative and referendum. This
would give the people an opportunity to vote on
the question whether or riot they want the right to
instruct their representatives and also the further
rigla to pass upon the laws enacted by their leg
islature. But whether or not you would care to
go so far in this direction, I would urge your con
sideration of a plan for an advisory initiative and
referendum."
O
DR. MUNIIALL, who recently closed a series
of religious meetings at Emporia, Kansas,
told, according to the Kansas City Journal, an in
teresting story. The Journal savs: "A great
many pennies had been put in the offering, and his
attention was called to this. One night he held
up a silver dollar and a copper penny and gave
a conversation held by the two coins. 'You poor
little red cent, you: you don't amount to anything.
I d hate to be you,' said the big dollar. 'I know I'm
not very big,' replied the cent, 'but the children
like me, and I can buy a good niany tilings.'
Hull you can't buy anything at all said the dol
lar. Just look at me, big and bright and shin v.
1 can buy a whole lot more than you can.' 'May
be so,' said the little led cent, meekly, 'but I so
to church a heap oftener than you do anyway.' "
O
SENATOR BAILEY was re-elected by the Tex
as legislature, receiving 10S votes out of 147
cast. A committee of the legislature is now pro
ceeding with the investigation of charges filed
against Senator Bailey by Representative Cocke
An Associated Press dispatch from Austin Tex '
says: "The special committees apointed by the two
brandies of the state legislature to investigate
charges preferred against United States Senator
Bailey met in secret session today. Because of
the grave character of the charges involving a
possible violation of a federal statute the commit
tee has decided to limit the range of the inquir
until more definite information can be secured
rI ho committee decided that Senator Bailey would
not be required to appear until all the evidence
was In, inasmuch as he is on the defensive Sen
ator Bailey will not leave Austin until after 'the
investigation is concluded. The additional charges
preferred against Senator Bailey by Representa
tive Cocke concerning deals in Indian territory
land charge that in 1001 Senator Bailey repre
sented S. B. Burnett of Fort Worth, relative to thti
leasing of certain lands in the Kiowa and Co
manche reservations from the department of the
interior; also that in 1900 Senator Bailey repre
sented the linn of Sugg Brothers, before the de
partment of the interior in reference to approval
of leases of Kiowa and Comanche lands which the
firm was trying to lease and that large sums of
money were paid Senator Bailey. The charges also
declare that Bailey secured a loan from Judge J.
M. Lindsay of Gainesville, Tex., in 1892 while pro
curing from congress right of way through Indian
territory for the Gainesville, McAlestor and "St.
Louis Railroad company. Another charge against
Bailey is specified as follows: That in the spring
of ISOa F. B. Stuart of Gainesville, Tex., a former
law partner of said Joseph W. Bailey, was ap
pointed a judge of the United States court for the
Indian territory and appointed J. W. Philips of
Gainesville, Tex., to whom Bailey owed consider
able sums of money, as clerk of said court. That
the compensation of said Philips as clerk was on
a salary basis under the law as it then existed;
said J. W. Bailey at said time being a member oC
the judiciary of the house of representatives of the
United States congress procured the passage of
an act which was approved November 3, 1892,
(United Slates statutes, at large, volume 2S), which,
put said clerkship on a fee basis and increased
the compensation of the otlico of clerk to the sum
of about .$25,000 per annum and thereafter, during
the life time of Philips, now .deceased, and during
the incumbency of the office, Bailey procured large
sums of money from time to time from Philips
as compensation."
THE ADOPTION by the senate and house of
the amendment increasing the salaries of sen
ators and members, reminds the Nashville, Tenn.,
Banner of the "salary grab" of the session of 1872
3. lhat increase of salaries applied to the members
of congress voting the increase as well as to those
of future sessions, while the increase recently
adopted will take effect March 4, 1907, and wlil
not apply to the present session. Referring to
the 1872-3 salary grab, the Banner says: "The re
sult was a wave of popular protest, which caused
many of the congressman who voted for the bill
to try to 'hedge' to appease their constituents.
Some of them covered their extra pay into the
treasury, some devoted it to charity, and not a
few lost out in the succeeding election."
O
D EFERRING to the passage by the house of tha
p. bill prohibiting corporations from contribut
tag to campaign funds, the New York Evening
Post says: "It marks a distinct step forward iS
the purification of our elections. It does not.
however, as was pointed out in the debate yester
day estop any wealthy candidate from paying out
a million dollars if he chooses. To some limitation
on that, as suggested by Governor Hughes, we shall
yet have to come. It was not a very pleasant de
bate for the republicans. The democfaTSder
John Sharp Williams, did not neglect : to opoS
mty to ask whether, 'with his great popularity
tiiroughout the country,' the president should not
demand of his party the return of the money con
tributed unlawfully by the insurance companies
from their trust funds to aid in his election
Friends of both Mr. Roosevelt and Mr Corte yon
will always have to blush for this failure to do J
simple act of justice and right a great wroiU
Republicans have been justly wfuStag Mayor
the title to which is clouded. Mr. Roosovolt nimh
to be the first to wish to wipe off the Kist ? ttat
rests upon the campaign for his re-election Per
haps, now that the bill has passedfhe may feel
inclined to do his best to make the law reSctive
by insisting on the campaign committers tarnma
back the moneys taken f rem widow nS I oipSs"
O
JSlnhL5lJTf y1113' kll0Wn t0 farae
kJ Joslah Flynt," died at Chicago TTo onlimi
7f.V?A??""r"" W1U1 sriu-t. in fact it is be-
book
in the
name
m m r m a a r f rt r t r t a
; X" " WP. M Ho wrote a
v, v' ,. " I"1.1" ol. uralt" A writer
T AuMi iayunmg rosl sayg. ..Undei, th0
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