The 8Ri.SKl a commoner. WILUAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR VOE. 7. No. 29. Lincoln, Nebraska, August 2, 1907. Whole Number 341 CONTENTS DID MORTON CONFESS? NO DANGER OP PANIC MR. WATTERSON'S IDEAL. CANDIDATE "AFTER THE ELECTION" FILIPINOS AND CUBANS DO THEY FAVOR REGULATION? JAPAN AND KOREA A CABINET OFFICER'S FRANK TALK " HUGHES TWO-CENT VETO WASHINGTON LETTER COMMENT ON CURRENT TOPICS HOME DEPARTMENT WHETHER COMMON OR NOT NEWS OF THE WEEK THE LINEUP The trCBt question, the tariff Question and the railroad question present the same issue be tween the general public and the privileged classes. Shall the government be administered in the interest of the whole people or in th3 interest of a few? This is the issue presented by the trust question-, the tariff question aud. the railroad question. While democrats may differ as to the rela tive importance of the trust question, the tariff question and the railroad question, all must agree that the party must take the side of tho common people on all three questions. Let the line be drawn between those wno want to make this a government of the people, by the people and for the people and those who want it to be a government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations. oooo GOVERNOR GLENN'S VICTORY Governor Glenn's victory Is a notable ono and may prove the beginning of a successful movement to' compel the recognition of the right ' of the state to control commerce within its borders. The federal courts are constantly in terfering with state regulation of railroads, but it takes a flagrant case to attract attention and It would seem that Judge Pritchard's ruling was outrageous enough to make the country take, notice. It is fortunate for North Carolina that she has a governor with the necessary courage to enforce the law. oooo THE BOISE VERDICT The prompt acquittal of Haywood will please those who have followed the evidence submitted in the famous trial at Boise. The case will be discussed in the next issue, but expression is here given to the gratification felt that the evidence did not connect the leaders of the miners' federation with the murder of Governor -Stuenenberg. OOOO SILENT The railroad papers are already squirming. They were having a good time building up forceful objections to government ownership, but it is an entirely different task to explain why they remain silent on the subject of effective regulation. OOOO SIGNIFICANT The St. Louis Globe-Democrat insists that free silver and government ownership are para mount issues. The remoteness of the Globe Democrat's editor's mind from the subject un der discussion effective regulation is in itself significant , SH' ' MKmVifl!,i,.if "Vr .'s;rS- VZZri '. ' n: x -a. .- - ln&z&'bmv'sxrzij.wL, j.,mirrz?r?...zz TZ. ? vtMiai1, ppwwj ONE SO HUMBLE AS T O ESCAPE THE MONSTER DID PAUL MORTON CONFESS H. H. Kohlsaat, of Chicago, Mr. Roose velt's intimate friend, has a somewhat remark able interview In the July 27 number of the Saturday Evening Post. Mr. Kohlsaat, it seems, was the gentleman who introduced Paul Morton to Mr. Roosevelt when the latter was governor of New York. Mr. Kohlsaat says: "After Mr. Roosevelt became president he Invited Mr. Morton to become a member of his cabinet. This offer of a portfolio was repeatedly declined, but President Roose velt insisted. In the course of the confer ences on the matter Mr. Morton declared that the navy portfolio was out of his line, and that all the practical knowledge he had of ships was gained in touring Kansas in a 'prairie schooner.' More than this, he bluntly told President Roosevelt that his - own road, the Santa Fe, had been techni cally guilty of rebating. But the president still urged him to come into the cabinet, and gave as his reason that he wished to have a strong, practical railroad man at his elbow, as an adviser, because he wished to become thoroughly familiar with the rail road question from a practical viewpoint. He felt that the federal supervision of rail roads was one of the biggest problems of Tils administration, and he wanted to know all about it from the inside. Later, when the matter of persecutions for rebating was at a sensational pitch, and the newspapers were pointing at Mr. Morton, the president stood pat and stuck by his faithful cabinet adviser. And on this point Roosevelt cov ered the situation by saying: 'I'd have been a skunk if I'd d6ne anything else.' " This Is, indeed, "important if true." According to Mr. Kohlsaat, when the navy portfolio was offered to Mr. Morton ho bluntly confessed to Mr. Roosevelt that his road had been guilty of rebating. In spite of this con fession Mr. Roosevelt urged him to' enter the cabinet. Then when the American people learned what, according to Mr. Kohlsaat, Mr. Roosevelt had all along known, Mr. Roosevelt, in the alnguage of Mr. Kohlsaat, "stood pat and stuck by his faithful cabinet adviser." And on this point Mr. Roosevelt, In the opinion of his friend Kohlsaat, "covered the situation" by say ing: "I'd have been a skujnk If I'd done any thing else." Mr. Roosevelt might,, at least, have put It on the ground of comradeship. It will be remembered that Judson Harmon of Cincinnati, and F. N. Judson of St. Louis, were retained to investigate the charge that tha Santa Fe had violated the anti-rebate law. Iheso gentlemen reported that the road had been guilty of that offense and recommended the prosecution of its officials, among them Paul Morton. But why were Harmon and Judson ap pointed by Mr. Roosevelt to make an investiga tion as to a fact confessed to Mr. Roosevelt him self by Paul Morton at the time Mr. Morton was offered a position in the president's cabinet? Mr. Roosevelt sustained his attorney gen eral who rejected the Harmon and Judson re port, saying: . "I entirely agree with your conclusions. In my opinion you would be wholly without