&i?
rfssrnvwfWIBmtii
m,;y
,
.
i.. !
ESPS
k
HT
, -4
r.'iii
i...U
HSU'
I'vV it
IK '.,! ,
Hi ,
in. another state outfit not to bo sufflclrat .to
cdrry; tlifi case from the state 16 the federal
c'oYirt. Wore too, an appeal from' the 'supremo
court of ,tho Btate is always possible if any con
jWlulionity rights have been violated.
4 The movement inaugurated by, the atto
ysS'crieral of the various states iff not onlya
,- voFy important one, but it fa also a very signlft-
Jamil it as, soon as thqy see the opposite prin
ciple .actefiWrn. the federal courts have -fur-.ijfsheil
thoobject lessons, and the people have
.Soon apt pupils; they have at once confronted
(he danker involved in the overriding of state
laws and in the destruction of the state courts,
" and they respond with earnestness to the demp
' cratic appeal in behalf of the right of the stato
foprbtdct the people in matters which are local.
ww
Jti)i
M i 1
"HELPLESS"
X');
T'1, annnMi nf St. T fUliR. Mr. R00S6Velt
UH i nvtffwi flint TiifMR control over corpbratioiis
werp; surrendered to the federa. government
'b, 'thoninoty millions of people of this coiiri
iry;i will' bo left helpless to control the huge
corporations which now domineer in our Indus
trial- life and that they (the corporations) will
have the authority of the courts to work their
-desires unchecked." '
'-"Did the president's hearers overlook the
fact that although the interstate commerce, com
mission law was put upon the statute books
twenty years ago no practical relief has come to
. the? people from that provision?
'In 1887 the people were suffering so much
becrtuso of railroad imposition that an interstate
commerce commission was created with;?the
purpose of giving that commission control over
the railroads, so far as interstate commerce: is
concerned. Little by little the life has been
interpreted out of that law and during all these
years the interstate commerce commission has
been the laughing stock of men Who made ser
through the state governments.
Even after the legislation of 1907 no sub
stantial results have come -through this federal
commission and while the people have obtained
some' benefits the president's hearers must have
known ; that those ' benefits have come, largely
through the state government.
i It Jb significant that, in his efforts to. cen
tralize in the federal power all authority over
the: railroads of the' country the president lias
the cordial support of every railroad trust magnate-in
the land,
oooo
J. HOAV WILL THEY EXPLAIN?
"vThe Newspaper Publishers Association has
formulated a demand that -wood pulp and print
"paper be put upon the free list, declaring that
xno WOOU! puip unu jmjitu iruui ao Luiiiug uu.vu.u-
'it-go 'of the tariff to rob the publishers of the
country. The truth of this declaration can not
'.he denied. But how "will the members of the
association "who advocate a "standout" tariff
policy explain to their readers who are suffering
from similar exactions at the hands of the cloth
ing trust, the cordage trust, the harvester trust,
the anthracite and bituminous coal trusts, the
moat trust, and a score of other trusts, all of
which are barricaded behind the walls of the
tariff? "Why should newspaper publishers who
advocate a tariff on the necessaries of life icon
sumed by the general publicobject to a tariff
on the1 necessaries of the publishing concerns?
A' dot of "standpat" organ publishers will either
hae to- do a lot of explaining to curious and'
Inquisitive readers, or tolse resort to that very
ancient dodge of "silent contempt,"
' ' OOOO
nVHY NOT SUBMIT IT TO THE PEOPLE?
'V.l,& Ws. Bpeech at. St. Louis Mf: Roosevelt
said: "tliero arc difllcultjes, arising from our
djual, form of government. If they prove to be
insuperable resort must be had to the power
ot'mendmnt' x
' 'Mrr. ROosevelt would exorcise this "power'
of amendment" through "the spirit of broad
interpretation" which ho says "can be found u
the constitution as it is."
Surely the interpretation will bo just as
broa.d as. the corporations want it to be, wher
ever the corporations control the court. i
But if, as Mr. Roosevelt said in the same-f
speecn, "tile constitution is unchanged and un-i
changeable pave by amendment in due form,"
and if public interests require, as he says they
do, material change in the manner of exercising
control oyer. those corporations, why not under-
Th9mmongi!v
take the change in duo form and with the. peo
ple's consent 'rather than through "the spirit
of Tjroad interpretation?"
- Certainty Mr"." RooseVelt recognizes, the ad
vantages of having sO radlci.il a change "brought
about through the" people's consent rather than
through "the' -spirit of l)road interpretation,"
which would mean, in this instance, that the
men who happen- to occupy positions on the bench
would so Interpret the law as to destroy our
dual system Of government. It-would centralize
all power over corporations at Washington and
please" beyond- all measure, not only every fail
road trust magnate but the very gentleman who
owes his remarkable popularity to the impres
sion that he is seriously bent upon protecting
the public from the exactions of these same mag
nates! Why j not submit the question- to the
people, Mr. President? You have said on sev
eral occasions that public sentiment could be
depended upon and. that it would invariably crys
talize in the right direction. Why not put this
theory to the tesfc and in the testing give the
American people an. opportunity to vote upon
the proposition upon which Mr. Roosevelt and
the railroad mngnates are just' now so har
monious? '
, OOOO
"UNCHANGED AND UNCHANGEABLE"
In his address at St. Louis Mr, Rqqsevelt
said: "The constitution is unchanged and un
changeable save 'by amendment in due form.
But the conditions to which it is to be applied
have undergone a change which is almost a
transformation, with the result that many sub
jects formerly under the control of .the . states
have come under the control of the nation;""
But that, is not true if the constitution is
"unchangeable ' save by amendment in due
form' Never in the history of the country was
the wiBdom ,of our system o government so
justified as it is today.
If thee has Jbeen '.any change; in conditions
it is that change which makes it necessary-for
the people tp consider our system of govern
ment in a practical way and for the very pro
tection of their homes where heretofore they
have regarded.it as a mere theoretical proposi
tion proper subject for. the discussion of states
men, biijidt to be dwelt up0n by the rank and
If there is any change in conditions it, is.
that those artificial persons created" by the law
and for the benefit of the public now seek,
through the very destruction of ther American
system of government to Ijecome the -veritable
masters of the people.
And jn their efforts to take from the people
the powqr oyer the corporations and centralize
that power at the national capitol these trust
magnates find their most ardent spokesman :in
the president of the United States.
Plainly Mr. Roosevelt has no adequate con
ception of the isubject with which he assumes
.tp. deal else at the very moment when he is
winning his popularity by certain proceedings
against great corporations ho would' not advo
cate a plan which would make the people help
less for the future in the .presence of corporate
imposition.
- OOOO
THE HAtfUE COURT
The Hague peace conference has not ac
complished afi 'much as the friends of peace had
hoped.. The nations represented wanted peace
but each1 one was anxious that it should be se
cured without any sacrifice on its own part.
Some of the nations wanted to discontinue the
use of navies" in the collection of private debts,
and this "would have been a long step in ad
vance, but other nations objected on the theory
that they might want to collect the debts due,
some of their citizens. Various propositions
were presented, and some of them received con
siderable support, but the final outcome is a
disappointment It is hard tp secure peace by
agreement when so many Nations are to be con
sulted and so many conflicting interests are to
he harmonized. The peace movement will make
progress but that progress is not as rapid as
it ought to be.
But whyshould the United States "wait for
an agreement with other nations? It has it
within its spheroito promote peace at once. It
can announce ife own policy and thus set an
example to otftot nations. This example may
riot be followed at once but it vtilY give the
friends of peace in other nations something to
work for and ari argument to use. ' -'For instance
our nation could announce and it- should do
so its determination not to use the navy for
the collection of private debts. This would be
. VOLUME 7, NUMBER 39
a beginning. Other nations would, one aft
- another, follow its example, and a puhlic opinion
would be .formed which would 'in time co,S
aU natjbps to abstain from wars for the colhV
tiori of p'rivate debts. . 10c"
Tlier.e Is another thing which our nation
should db, and it should do it at once, namely
announce its willingness to enter into an aeroi'
ment providing for the, submission to an im"
8?Smi trIbal aeforeUh.e commbneement "f
hostilities and the declaration- of war of 1
disputes which defy diplomatic "settlement if
it will announce such a policy, it will find 1
number of other nations willing to make such
an agreement, and these will set the pattern for
the rest of the world. T.hp failure of The Hague
conference to accomplish what it ought to have
accomplished gives our. .nation an opportunity
-to lead the way and become the dominating
factor in the promotion of peace.
OOOO
. WHY?
In his speech at Keokuk Mr. Roosevelt said
"At intervals the appeal has been made
to me not to enforce the law against certain
wrongdoers of great wealth because to do so
would interfere with the business prosperity of
the .country. It would be not merely
wrong but infamous to fail to do all that can
be done to secure the punishment of those
wrong-doers whose deeds are peculiarly repre
hensible because they are not committed under
the stress of want. -Perhaps I am most
anxious to get at the -politician who .is corrupt;
but assuredly I shall not spare his
brother corruptionist who" shows himself a
swindler in business life," -
This is well said. But why so many words
without some serious action? If Mr. Roosevelt
"shall not spare the corruptionist who" shows
himself a swindle in business life" why has he
neglected to make serious efforts to put some of
these wealthy rogues behind the bars?
' OOOO
THE LABOR ORGANIZATION
. The. labor organization has been an impor
tant factor inutile laboring man's progress. It
has shortened hours; it has increased wages;
it has improved sanitaryconditionsi-it has se
cured the. passage of laws tor the pVevention of
child, labor; it was largely instrumental in in
troducing the secret ballot, and it has in a hun
dred ways mado its impress upon industry, gov
ernment and society. That it has made mistakes
is true, but what organization composed of hu
man beings is free from mistakes? Have the
officials of the labor organization sometimes
been corrupted? It wohld be strange if they
had not, for high government officials have
sometimes been convicted of dishonesty and even
ministers of- the gospel havo Occasionally fallen
from graces . , .
The labor organization has helped those
outside of it as wellas -those inside. To test it,
take a case whero a labor Organization has se
cured an T advance in wages and" ask the em
ployer why he pays union and non-union men
the same wages; and Ire will teU you that the
non-union men will not work for less than he
pays the union men. And yet there are some
who wonder why members of the union, who
pay their dues to the .organization and con
tribute to the. support of their brothers on . a
strike, should object to sharing in the victory
With those who not only refuse tobear the
burdens, but sometimes endeavor to defeat the
strike,
Improved methods of transpoitation have
greatly benefited the laborer by making it
easier for him to move to better fields. Supply
and demand have been brought nearer together
and employment has been made-steadier. While
the steam railroads have been facilitating the
distribution of labor over large areas, street
qar service In the cities has 'shortened "the dis
tance between 'the. home and the factory and
permitted theworkingman to "be at "home for
a longer time.
The spirit df brotherhc Od is growing and
no clastf is likely to feel its influence more than
the laboring class. It has already acted power
fully in bringing laboring men into sympathy
with each other and it will ultimately .bring har
mony between the employer and the employes.
But as civilization is a continuing develop
ment so there must be continual advance
ment among all the elements that contribute to
that civilization, and the laboring men are still
struggling to secure a larger reward and a
higher position for themselves and their
descendants. Notwithstanding the fact that
they enjoy in America more than.theiV brethren
...:u9V;;
i.v
., (.""-.
-- -I 'J
'S.
.'K. &-'A?Mek&iitito--A i,difc
i3L.,
.ilAMsLiCW'J J
