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VOLUME 7, 'NUMBER 1$
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If! i
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If necessary, wo will linvo a law strong enough
HO It can not l)ti i. bo nfPnnfclvn. T urn nnf. nn.f Inflnil
to lmvo tho law provide for publication by" tho
commlttoo nlono: I boliovo a man wlmn lm nnn-
tributos should bo compelled to glvo notlco, so
you can liavo him to chock against tho commlt
too. And I would go furthor, and would malco It
a penal dffonso, for if. there Is anything that
offonds ono's sonso of Justlco it is to send a
man to tho ponitontlary for stealing a horso
and not send a man to the ponitontlary for steal
ing an election.
But, my friends, I was only calling atten
tion to a few ovidoncos of growth that-oncour-ngo
mo to bollovo that better times are coming
for those who want purity in politics and a gov
ernment rosponsivo to tho will of tho people.
And now lot mo glvo you what I regard
as even a more- encouraging sign; that is, the
activity oC tho well-to-do men on tho peoploSs
Bide of those questions, for these reforms have
generally horotoforo found their advocacy among
the poor people. I regard it as a splendid sign
that mon of indopondont means, mon who havo
no fear for thomsolves or for their own posi
tions, aro boginning to recognizo that there is
something in this woi;ld more important than
tho making of monoy, and that thoso mon aro
boginning to -give to these questions tho benefit
of their business oxperionce and of their brain.
In tho last few yoars I havo boen gratified be
yond measure to havo men of means come to
mo and toll mo of their intorost in these re
forms, altruistic interest, if you please, unselfish
intorest; men not soeklng public offlco; men ask
ing for nothing In tho way of favors from the
government, but men who recognize that this
government must be better than it has been if
wo aro to leave the legacy wo ought to leave
to our children.
I am glad, my frlonds, to And this increas
ing number, and I want to look upon these
questions as thoso men do, for I am in an inde
pendent position. My povorty was overestimat
ed when they called me poor just as my wealth
is overestimated now, when they call mo rich
I was never so poor that I could not have every
thing I needed, and my wants aro as simple
now, and my tastes as modest as when I was a
struggling young lawyer and my wife and I were""
doing" our work together. J have no fear about
my income, no doubt that I can take care of my
J3QUU na.iloubl thatXcan, -leave my chlldroira's
much as I think I ought to leavo them. I do
not believe in leaving children much. I am
glad my father did not loavo mo much, for if
I had rown up in anticipation of a fortune I
would not havo developed the industry that I
did develop when I found that I had to mako
my own living. I do not want my children to
he spoiled by tho expectation of a great deal of
money; I shall be able to leave them enough
"Why should a man want to leave only
money to his children? If you leave monoy it
may take tho wings oE the morning and fly away
You must leave your children something bet
tor than money. There is a growing class in
this country, an increasing numbor of our citi
zens who recognize that the best legacy a father
can leave to his children, is not fortune, but a
government that will protect his children in their
enjoyment of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness, and guarantee to them a fair share
of the procoods of their own toil.
x , w?lcme, therefore, as allies in the great
fight that we have before us, not only the poor
who have felt tho pressure of bad laws also
those well-to-do people tfhose hearts beat in
sympathy with the hearts of the struggling
masses; and I am glad to have these two classes
stand side by side and fight shoulder to shoulder!
The fact that they are doing it in increasing
number Is evidence of the truth of what Duma!
wrote thirteen years ago and Tolstoy ten years
b?oiherho0oyd.deClared th Cmine 0f an "
1 rejoice that I have lived to see this dav
when men of means are recognizing that tho
poor man s made in the image of the Bame
God whose imago tho well-to-do man wears; that
these mon are recognizing that tho noor ml
loves his children as much as the rich man Cos
his children. This recognition of kinshin will
enable us to solve these questions in thesnhit
of brotherly love and, solving them, give nn
Impetus to progress and civilization.
OPPOSING OKLAHOMA STATEHOOD '
to govern themselves ma, well bo astoSisZd
at the dispatches from Washing on It is stated
ihrm,S rcJLmi8tantial dtail that Pressure Is being
brought to bear upon the president to persuade
Ihim tovftfn Hia nnncnt.au.. Ji i. LU irsuaae
k)f Oklahoma. nw """ - Q nGW. statO
First, that the altoTSZ SSSSSi
The Commoner
for tho inltiatlvo and referendum; second, that
tho districting of tho state is not fair; and third,
that tho constitution contains more strict regula
tion of corporations than Is to bo found in most
constitutions. Tho second and third objections
would hardly bo regarded by the president as
sufllclent to justify tho denial of statehood to
.Oklahoma. Whllo the constitution attempts to
protect tho peoplo from Injustice at the hands
of corporations, none of tho provisions aro con
fiscatory or subject to serious objection. Tho
corporations aro allowed to ride roughshod over
tho peoplo of so many states that tho president
would hardly dare to deny statehood to" "Okla
homa merely because the representatives of tho
peoplo havo attompted to protect themselves
against corporato grood. The fact that tho fight
against tho adoption of tho constitution is being
led by Mr. Asp, the Oklahoma attorney for tho
Santa Fb System, would embarrass the republi
cans, for they presented the railroad provisions
of tho constitution as a reason for rejecting a
constitution which the representatives of tho
peoplo prepared and which tho people them
solvos endorsed. r
Tho second objection is not likely to 'have
much weight, because the districting under
which tho delegates to the constitutional con
vention were elected was more partisan and
unfair than tho present districting. It is to be
regretted that any party will take advantage of
its majority to district a state unfairly, (as the
editor of Tho Commoner has not seen a map
of the state as districted, ho does not know.,
whothor tho state has been gerrymandered or"
not) but suroly, when the president has before
him tho map of tho territory as it was gerry
mandered by republican officials in the hope of
capturing tho constitutional convention, he will
hardly feel like criticising anything that the
democrats may have done.
According to the press'dispatches the most
violent objection is made to the provision for
the initiative and referendum, but can tho pres
ident give that as a reason for excluding Okla
homa from a part in the next presidential elec
tion? Oregon has been giving her vote to the
republican ticket. Will he be in favor of ex
cluding tho electors of Oregon on the ground
that it has the initiative and referendum? South
Dakota gavo her electoral vote to the president
two years ago, and she has adopted the initiative
and referendum. Is this a reason for excluding
her? Maine is going to vote on the question
next year. Shall tho .rule be applied to Maine
in case tho peoplo adopt the initiative and
referendum?
It is asserted by some that the initiative
and referendum destroys the representative
character of tho government, bub such an argu
ment will surely have no weight with a thought- -ful
person. We have always had the referendum
in regard to constitutions, and there is a con
stantly increasing tendency to use the referen
dum in tho government of cities. The law which
called Oklahoma's constitutional convention to
gether provided for a referendum vote on the
constitution. Who will draw a line between the
right of the people to veto a constitution and
their right to veto a law enacted by a legisla
ture? b
It is not likely that the president will be
undemocratic enough to interfere or to onnose
any constitution which the people of Oklahoma"
deliberately endorse at the polls, but it he
B,ld venture t0 do so, the few electoral votes
of Oklahoma kept out of the democratic column
would be Insignificant compared with the num-'
ber of democratic votes which would be added
to the democratic column from other states if
the issue is directly presented, whether the peo
ple have a right to govern themselves. A re
jection of Oklahoma's constitution might delay
Oklahoma's statehood for a few months but it
would prove a blow to republican prospects that
no republican in official life would dare to
Strike.
oooo
ADVERTISING CONFIDENCE GAMES
Public attention is just now being directed
to the advertising of certaht speculative enter
prises which aro nothing less than confidence
games. These advertisements are to be found
in nearly all the papers and the promises held
out are so obviously deceptive that the business
managers of the papers can not be held guiltless
Tak,e,' f?f iji?tanco, an advertisementS
appeared in the New York Sun recently in which
a trust company offered for sale a "limited"
Hi0nCJlJfSt0-ek,inanAlaskan sold mine. ''Diyi- "
dends of twenty-five per cent are assured from
the first year s operation on the company's e
tire capitalization and thereafter as high as and
possibly more than, fifty per cent per annum
If a paper published personal notices in-
forming "would-btf confidence men where they
could obtain counterfeit monoy it would scarcely
participate more fully in a purpose to defraifd.
Mining Is a legitimate industry even though tho
dement of chance enters into it, but If itis -advertised
at all the advertisement ought to state
tno facts. A company which can assure twenty
five per cent dividends from the first year does
not have to buy newspaper space to secure stock
holders. -It does not have to dispose of its
stock at half price to people so far away from
the mine that they can not investigate. The
same is true of stock in oil wells and gas wells
",ch ? advertised with great promises
and sold remote from tho place whOre the field
of operation isespecially when "the price is to
ho advanced in the near future" usually"bar
takes of the nature of a lottery and should be
rl,ia VIse Such advertisements should
Mfn04niTfhtGrand Digglng in the S1Im Chance
Mine will take place soon and a few more tickets
can be secured at ten dollars each. If payin'c
ore is struck the purchasers may get their
money back with interest if not they will re
ceive a large return in experience." Or "Tho
Great Hopes Oil Well will be sunk shortly
Persons "desiring tickets in this lottery Sn a
piy to -- agents, who will receivo their
commission on sales whether oil is struck or
Such advertisements might not draw aq
many flies- into the spider's web but they w5u?d
be more honest than the advertisements which
do appear in reputable papers. K
tm aw ,efuses t0 advertise STOCK
IN ANY CORPORATION, first, because as a
rule, only speculative stock is adverUsed and
; second, because the value of stock depends upon
tho management and the management may
change any day. A few have discontinued S
subscriptions because their stock advertisements
have been declined, but the readerrhavrbeen
protected. The Commoner has made its advert
Using pages valuable by guarding against fraud '
r nnISepreSMntatIon' ".tavites its readers
report promptly any advertiser who does not
Thtsihtn fiCt letJer of hIs advertisement
iwvlL? be exPected of any paper, Xor riS
honest newspaper proprietor can afford to make
money by deceiving confiding patrons ButThS
Commoner goes further; it will not knowingl?
assist a trust to drive it j weaker rivall iSo
bankruptcy, and It therefore refuses adverting'
from any corporation which controls more thai
whiVIt nGi,Qf,the 1product of- W artie
w i ? rs !or sale' This' of course, does
not apply to articles protected by natonts or
SHSJSf". for the lawDgrants monopoly for a
limited time as a compensation for a new idea--or
invention,, but these are few in number. The1
numerous and hurtful monopolies are no
founded upon patents they are founded upon
.wVer j aT,se corPrations to control the J
market and , drive out competitors. As The
Commoner opposes the principle of private moi-
?& a?d i!?ht8,at prIncip?e whenew Ta '
K'1 wl? neither Put Itself under obligation
to the trusts or assist them to crush out the'
struggiing industries which are menaced by thl '
great monopolies. ,
n In thuf discriminating against trusts' The
?m?im?,ne is not onll Promoting itself and the.'
small business man, but it is protecting all of
its readers, for the natural, if not the inlvitable
result of monopoly is an increase in price after :
competition has been eliminated. " !- '
OOOO
THE NEW DISPENSATION '"
referred only to men "whose innocence has fnkt
othetnf;;' ThiS Seems to beTnoS out "
of the fruits of the new dispensation. In the old -
bideandirw1011 and o Sag wesMe
Sent instead n T f Psentative govern
ment instead of a colonial government thr mil
was that men charged with crime should bl
. woitsTn'tX A.' WoE
woius it -was up to the prosecution to nrove miilr
Now, according to this Lincoln newspaper aS
must prove his innocence oro to thTceli o3& "
oooo . '.
ANOTHER PROBLEM
savs'St ZanfnLWayil a Bai)t,st Pupation, .
says tnat one of the problems of society is whtt
to do with ex-convicts." Quite true but it i?nnJ
the only convict question. AnoC one deals t "
those who ought to be convicts but are not Ike y
to be, owing to political pulls and the failure of
&zrzre criminai 2F
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