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The Commoner.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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VOL. 7, NO. 37
Lincoln, Nebraska, September 27, 1907
Whole Number 349
CONTENTS
"
" THE OKLAHOMA VICTORY "'""
OUR EXPERT STATISTICIANS .
"SWOLLEN PROFITS" AND HOW SE
CURED A STRIKING PICTURE
"BACK TO THE PEOPLE"
WHY "EXCEEDINGLY UNDESIRABLE?"
THIS LOOKS LIKE SARCASM
GO AFTER THE HARRIMANS AND ROCK
EFELLERS WASHINGTON LETTER
COMMENT ON CURRENT TOPICS
HOME DEPARTMENT
WHETHER COMMON OR NOT
NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE NEWS FROM OKLAHOMA
Got some word from Oklahoma on the Wednes
day morning wire;
Just some facts about election and they filled
us full of fire.
Just some good election figures, and we just
leaned back and. laughed
At the way young Oklahoma handed 4imes to
William Taft.
Clear from Enid down to Guthrie, and from
there to Chickasha
Everything is democratic and we're feeling
blythe and gay.
Got some word from Oklahoma and it filled us
full of glee
But there's gobs of gloom now headed straight
for Washington, D. C.
Got some word from Oklahoma, and we've swept"
the platter clean;"
Licked the grasping corporations and the carpet
bag machine.
Forty thousand 'for the ticket speed the news
upon the way
Till it bumps against the wharfing fronting on
Manila Bay.
From Kingfisher to Okmulgee, clear down 'to the
Texas line,
Everything is democratic and we're feeling
mighty fine. '
Bully news from Oklahoma democratic to the
core
, And when Taft gets word about it he will feel
almighty sore. ,
Three times three for Oklahoma! Forty thou
sand! Hully gee!
Please excuse us if we holler, for our souls are
filled with glee. .
Bucked the whole administration and the g. o.
p. machine,
And we whipped 'em, boots and breeches
licked the bloomin' platter clean.
Yes, we heard from Oklahoma, and we swing
our hats on high,
And our cheers crossed the Pacific to Manila
Bay, P. I.
There's a new star on the banner and it's shining
mighty bright,
And she's safely democratic Oklahoma, you're
all right. ' " W. M. M.
-.OOOO
WnO WILL HAUL IT DOWN
By a vote so decisive that there can be no
mistaking it, Oklahoma has run up the flag of
statehood, which is simply the flag of this glo
rious republic. Now that Oklahoma has run
up the flag who will haul-it down?
....... . - ; '
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"What are the Wild Waves Saying?"
THE OKLAHOMA VICTORY
It is not necessary to say that the result
In Oklahoma Is a great victory for democrats.
The victory speaks for itself.
It is not necessary to say that the faithful
democrats of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
are entitled to the highest praise for the good
work they have accomplished. "From every sec
tion of the country come words of congratulation
to the democrats of the new state that is pre
pared to enter .the union under particularly
fortunate conditions.
Particularly fortunate, we say, because
Oklahoma's brief history is inseparably
associated with the idea of popular government.
When it came to the selection of men who were
to write the constitution for the new state it
was urged by many that Oklahomans, regard
less of political prejudice, ought to entrust that
duty to the party just then dominant in the
federal government. But in the campaign for
the constitutional convention the promise of
democrats seemed to accord with the purpose
of the Oklahomans to obtain a charter that
would make it plain, to all men that government
of the people, by the people, for the people
was to be the shibboleth for the new state.
The result was the democrats won by a
large majority in the constitutional convention.
It is not an idle statement to say that the
proceedings of Oklahoma's constitutional con
vention were marked with a determination on
the part of its members to prepare a constitu
tion that would insure to the people of the new
state practical control, for all time, over their
public affairs and their public servants.
, It is no idle statement to say that never
in the history of deliberative assemblies has
any body of men been - accorded more general
recognition for patriotic effort than was given
by men of all parties to Oklahoma's constitu
tional convention.
In all the proceedings of that great gath
ering there was no breath of scandal. No ono
complained that the members of the convention
were looking out for special interests. No one
suggested that their work left loop holes for
corporations. It was said that the constitution
was too long but some who made that complaint
meant that it was too explicit in its efforts to
safeguard the public interests. When the at
torney general, for the United States pointed
out what he conceived to be certain defects the
constitutional convention made correction ac
cordingly. It is not strange, then, that It was with
some degree of confidence that the men who
wrote this constitution submitted their work,
for the approval of their fellow citizens. With
significant emphasis the people of the new state
have approved that work and they did it in
the face of the implied threat that approval of
the constitution and a democratic victory meant
rejection of the constitution by a president
elected as a republican.
The strong personality of Mr. Roosevelt
figured conspicuously in the Oklahoma cam
paign. Every federal officeholder in the two
territories was fighting hard for republican vic
tory; and not only was the great prestige of
a national administration employed at every
point, but the administration was represented
in a particularly clearway by the personal par
ticipation of the heir apparent to .Mr. Roose
velt's party robe. And when Mr. Taft bluntly
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