The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, August 02, 1907, Image 1

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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 ,
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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