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The Coriimoner.
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VOLUME 7, NUMBER 31
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has boon a confusing of' the, rights, of the man
mado corporation' with tho rights' of thoGod
mado man. Tho corporation has only con
forrod rights while man has natural and in
allonablo rights. It is time to :protcct tho God
mado man from tho man-mado giant.
oooo
THE TUItN IN THE LANE
"It is a long lano that has no turn," says
tho proverb. It looked for years as if tho Stand
ard Oil company was an oxcoption to tho rulo;
it violated every law, human and divino; it bank
rupted rlvajs and impoverished producers; it
extorted from tho public; it coerced railroads
into violations of stato and federal statutes; it
overawed courts and subsidized the churches,
tho colleges and tho press. But the turn has
(como at last, and it is a short, 'sharp turn, too.
'Judge LandiB gives tho company the full limit
of tho Jaw and expresses regret that imprlson
cmut can not bo added. The lino of $29,240,000
is nearly thirty times tho capital stock of tho
subordinate corporation through which the
Standard actod, and is about equal to eight
months' dividends of tho big company. But
tho moral influence of the fine is still more im
portant; other judges will tako notice and tho
judgo who shows leniency will have to explain
why. It is tho beginning of the end. The
giant conspirator against law and morals has
boon brought to bay and tho people breathe a
sigh of relief. Judge Landis has earned a na
tion's gratitude.
Just as the fine is imposed the head of tho
bureau of corporations files a report denying in
detail tho arguments presented in defense of
the Standard Oil's monopoly. It is shown that
it has raised prices instead of lowering them
and that it has prevented the people from get
ting the full benefit of improved processes of
manufacture. Stripped of the deceptive argu
ments which it has spread broadcast it stands
forth convicted of about every ciime in tho
catalogue.
And tho man whose cunning pHnned it all
what a pitiful figure! The lesson hij life teaches
will not bo lost on tho country.
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the
Whole world and lose his own soul?"
OOOO
AN APPEAL TO WALL STRiGET
The Wall Street Journal tells the magnates
of that thoroughfare that "Wall Street must
make up its mind that it can not for some
time to come control the president of the United
States."
"Tho most" says the Journal, "that 'it
(Wall Street) oan hope for, and this at least it
ought to secure, is that tho next president of
the United States, while independent of Wall
Street, will be fair toward Wall Street."
Then the Journal appeals to the men of
Wall Street in behalf of Mr. Vaft. The Journal
says "while he (Taft) would in an ample meas
ure continue the Roosevelt policy yet he would
carry it out in his own way." The Journal as
sures the men of Wall Street that in. the office
of president Mr. Taft would display "the same
judicial and diplomatic policies that have dis
tinguished his public life heretofore."
Does the Journal really believe that in the
year of 1908 the American people will be sat
isfied with a Wall Street candidate even though
ho is pledged to "carry out the Roosevelt
policy?"
If the Journal succeeds in making Mr. Taft
satisfactory to the Wall Street speculators he
will not be available as the preferred candidate
of the American people.
OOOO
THERE IS A LAW
The Philadelphia North American Is in
dignant. Someone has told the American that
tho Standard Oil trust will make the people pay
the $29,240,000 fine. The North American
says: "The American people dare Standard Oil
to do this thing! There will bo no increase in
the price of oil to offset this fine, unless it be
true that 'those whom the gods would destroy
they first make mad.' Let one step toward that
thievery be taken and there will be laws made
swiftly, at Washington and in every state, that
will be rude in their equity and harsh in their
penalties, because they will voice the wrath of
a whole people, whose patience has been tried
ioo iar.
The North American need not think it can
frighten the oil trust by the threat that "laws
will be made swiftly at Washington" that will
""v ""J 'ft"1-1""" tViU " luoiecuqn or public
interests from Standard OJ1 greed, l The Stand
ard Oil trust has provided at least apportion of
tho republican party's campaign fund and tho
man admittedly most influential in the United
States senate is generally recognized as the rep
resentative of the oil trust.
But the North American need hot wait for
the enactment of offective laws; there remains
on tho statute books tho criminal clause of, the
Sherman anti-trust law, which clause provides
for tho imprisonment of mon who violate anti
trust laws. Let the North American devote its
energies to tho effort to 'persuade the men "in
power to enforce the criminal clau'se against
John D. Rockefeller and his associates.
OOOO
REPUBLICANS AND THE TARIFF
The San Francisco Argonaut is a republi
can paper. Read the warning the Argonaut
gives to its party: "The Argonaut, as every
body knows who knows anything about it, is
a very earnest republican. It is so good a re
publican as to be grieved and shocked at the
plight in which the party stands on the tariff
issuO. It is ashamed of the indecision, the weak
ness, the delay which has given us the mere
echo of a promise where we ought to have per
formance. And now we say to the leaders of
the republican party that unless they shall find
a way to subordinate the influence of the pro
tected trusts in the party councils, unless they
shall find a way to keep faith with the pleople,
the party will sooner or later go down to de
feat. No political party which lacks the power
to keep its word, which is not strong enough
within itself to put down those who would use
it to selfish ends, can permanently retain the
respect of the country or command the alleg
iance of a majority of the people. This, perhaps,
may be called very plain talk and it is none
the less deserving of respect because it is plain."
OOOO
DOES IT NEED SHELTER?
For the quarter just closed the net earnings
of the steel trust amounted to $45,503,705.
After providing for all expenses and regular div
idends on heavily watered capital stock tho steel
trust was able to set. aside the sum of $18;
500,000. Referring to this showing the Boston
Herald says: "The statement is hailed in some
quarters as showing great prosperity in an in
dustry that is called the barometer of trade. It
shows more than that, however. It furnishes
further evidence of the urgent necessity of a re
vision of the iron and steal schedules of our
tariff law. The trust can easily afford it and
still realize ample returns on its watered
capital."
- OOOO
THE GOVERNMENT OF DEPENDENCIES
Senator Beverldge adopts the idea that ca
pacity for self-government is not natural, but
cultivated. He takes the position that because
we are capable of self-government we should
furnish government as an exported article to
those not capable. That was not the doctrine
of the republican party when Abraham Lincoln
was its leader. Lincoln,, expressly and emphati
cally denounced it, and Clay did before him
Kentucky's great commoner said that it would
be a reflection upon the Almighty to assume
that He-made people incapable of self-government
and left them to be the victims of kings
and emperors. I might paraphrase what Clay
said, and suggest that it would be a reflection
upon the Almighty to say that He created the
Filipinos incapable of self-government and left
them helpless until Spain found them ruled
them with a rod of iron for three centuries and
then sold them to us at two and half dollars ner
head because of our superior capacity for government.
The senator attempts to use the negro in
the south as a shield to ward o the attacks
of democrats, but in so doing hetetrays lis lack
of knowledge of the democratic position. The
suffrage qualifications were imposed, not because
the colored man is incapable of self-government
but because he is not sufficiently advanced td
govern the whjte race. Where the two races
are thrown together the question is not whether
the black man is capable of self-government
but whether he, is capable of administering a"
government under which both must live. In
such casesvthe more advanced race, as a matter
of self-preservation, fixes suffrage qualifications
in order td protect its civilization. But Senator
Beverldge overlooks the fact that the demo
crats of the south show, more consideration to
the black man than the republicans show to the
brown men of; th,e Orient,,. Y .
In the,firstplaQe, the suffrage qualifications
of the south raise a temporary barrier to suffrage
and Under all the amendments adopted some of
the colored men now vote,-, and new voters are
added year after year, but under a' colonial
policy the Filipinos are permanently barred from
the rights of citizenship. On. this point the black
man of the south has a distinct advantage over
the Filipino.
Second, the colored people of the south
are protected by the constitution of the United
States and by the constitutions of the various
states, while the Filipinos have no constitutional
protection. In this respect also the black man
of the south has an advantage over the brown
man of the Orient.
Third, the colored people of the South live
under laws which the white people make for
themselves. The Filipinos live under laws, which
we make for them, and under which we would
not ourselves be willing to liye. This is the real
evil of a colonial policy, the evil which out
weighs all others, and which can not be eradi
cated while colonialism survives. In this re
spect the. black man of the south has an immeas
urable advantage over the Filipinos. Is it not
astonishing that the republican party, which
came into existence by championing the rights
of the black man, should now (be so indifferent
to the rights of the brown man? And is it not
strange that it should attempt to involve this
government in the solution of a race question
seven thousand miles away from home when the
race question that we now have is so difficult of
solution?
Senator Beverldge entirely ignores the fact
that there is another element in human progress
besides force. It is true that "history is crim
soned by the blood which nations haye shed in
their attempts to administer governments over
subject people, but for centuries there has been
a growing protest against the old theory that
governments rest, upon brute force. Great pro
gress has already been made in the dissemina
tion of the doctrine that governments are just
only in proportion as they give expression to
the will of the people, and in the movement to
substitute this doctrine for the doctrine of kings
and despots our nation has taken the lead. The
doctrine of imperialism, as stated so clearly and
defended so eloquently ty Senator Beveridge, is
the doctrine of piracy on a large scale. In some
respects it is worse than piracy. The pirate took
what he could find, and left; the imperialist
takes what he can find, and stays. The pirate
was a temporary affliction; imperialism is .an en
during calamity. Piracy has at last been driven
from the seas by the joint action of the nations;
it is not too much to hope that the day will come
when imperialism will follow piracy into oblivion
and when self-government will spread through
out the world. Our nation is the natural leader
in this movement for the establishment of free
government. , No amount of commercial advan
tage could justify us in following at the tail end
of Europe's procession, and it would not pay us
to do so if we were willing to endure the political
and moral humiliation of such a course.
OOOO
FILIPINO LEGISLATURE
It is reported that the nationalists have
won a sweeping victory and that the Filipino
legislature will declare for independence, free
dom to carry arms and trial by jury. The legis
lature has a reasonable duty to perform, and it
is to be hoped that the members will so con
duct themselves as to strengthen public con
fidence in their capacity.
OOOO
'"REVISION"
While contending that the tariff "can" be
revised by the republican party, the Minneapolis
Journal (republican) says: "The schedules
which need revising are precisely the schedules
which have the greatest strength in congress.
This is what is called revising the tariff by the
friends of the tariff but it looks more like re
vising it by the friends of its abuses, which is
what the democrats claim."
MY SOUL
My Soul stood bare to the sigh,t of men,
My Soul stood firm; it knew no.. fear,
For the blame of man could not be just,"
The mind of man could not understand.
My Soul stood hare in the sight of a child,' ' "- '
It stood condemned; for it stood perceived,
For the blame of a child is the blame pf Truth,
Tho' the heart of a child may not understand.
Mv Soul stood barn in the. HlMif nt r.
And Th.y'Sbni rfejpiced in, its heipiessness,
For 'the olkme of God was1 Wrgivenness; ,';,
Edward P. Gilchrist In Harper's Weekly.
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