The Commonero
WILUAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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I
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VOL. 7, NO. 42
Lincoln, Nebraska, November 1, 1907
Whole Number 354
iVe Tuesday, November 5, is Election Day. It is the duty of every believer in Dem
ocratic Principles to go to the polls on that day and vote for the candidates who best rep
resent those principles. This is your duty. Do not neglect it
CONTENTS
THE STATE AND LABOR
PUT THE BLAME WHERE IT BELONGS
THE NEBRASKA CAMPAIGN
CENTRALIZATION
ILLINOIS REPUBLICANS PROTEST
PILE IT ON THE CONSUMER .
. WHAT IS A REPUBLICAN
TRYING TIMES FOR A WASHINGTON
ORGAN
A GET-RICH-QUICK PANIC
STANDARD OIL AND THE TARIFF
WASHINGTON LETTER
LETTERS "FROM THE PEOPLE '
COMMENT ON CURRENT TOPICS
HOME DEPARTMENT
WHETHER COMMON OR NOTwiw
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PUT THE BLAME WHERE IT BELONGS
Charles G. Dawes, former comptroller of
the currency, addressing the National
Civic Federation in session at Chicago,
criticised Attorney General Bonaparte, the
magazine writers and some other people
for present day financial conditions. He
defended the financiers of New York, assert
ing that many of them who have borne the lash
during the last four years are doing a work
for the good of theountry, the value of which
it is hard to estimate. He further urged the
amendment of the Sherman anti-trurt law so
as to avoid embarrassment to the "good trusts."
It is strange that men who take the posi
tion Mr. Dawes does have no word of censure
for the men whose greed for gold has brought
about present day financial conditions. He ac
cuses the attorney general and the magazine
writers of attacking the "business interests"
of the country and he has much to say of the
importance of upholding those interests. But
bo far as we have seen he has had not one
word of censure for those men who have manip
ulated the banking business to their own selfish
ends and who through wildcat speculation have
brought on a panicky condition.
Mr. Dawes', words would carry "greater
weight if he had something to say in condemna
tion of the wealthy and powerful evil doers of
the country.
oooo
BETTER INVESTIGATE
Interstate Commerce Commissioner Prouty
says that there is no more railroad rebating.
Interstate Commerce Commissioner Lane
says the rebate practice is still in vogue.
If the members of the interstate commerce
commission could snatch a little time from their
newspaper interviews and banquet hall speeches
they might investigate this noticeable difference
of opinion between Messrs. Prouty and-Lane.
I?" . - . .
"Well, anybody that'll drive that critter must expect smash-ups occasionally"
The State and Labor
It Is a little disappointing to find ho well
Informed a man as Senator Beveridgo attribut
ing all the good things of life to the republican
party. "Take the period of the Roosevelt ad
ministration," he says, and then he proceeds to
assume that increased employment and Increased
wages are in some way due to the fact that
Mr. Roosevelt became president. Strange that
he should overlook the two prime causos of im
proved industrial conditions and attribute the
improvement to causes that had nothing what
ever to do with better timea. Prior to 1890 we
had an era of bad crops. For several years
tho croij failure was so complete that the farm
ers were selling off their live stock, mortgaging
their farms and reducing their expenditure? to
a minimum. This necessarily decreased the con
sumption of manufactured products and les
sened the demand for labor. Since 189G we
have had an extraordinary era of good crops.
The earth has brought forth abundantly, and
the farmers, having something to buy with, have
become purchasers of all sorts of merchandise.
The republican speakers and writers, however,
studiously ignore this cause of prosperity and
boastfully claim that the republican party has
done it all. Sopae have been impudent enough
to suggest that the republican party was in part
nership with the Almighty and that the Lord
smiled upon the earth and made It fruitful in
order to reward the people for putting their
confidence in republican leaders.
But there Is another cause to which Senator
Beveridgo seems entirely blind, namely the in
creased quantity of money. For twenty-five
years prior to 1890 the world had suffered from
falling prices, and billions of dollars had toeen
drained into the pockets of the money changers
and holders of fixed investments. In 1890 ma
democrats insisted that an increase in the vol
ume of money was the paramount question and
pointed to bimetallsm as the only relief in sight.
The republican leaders denied the need for more
money, although the republican platform held
out the promise of international bimetallsm and
thd republican campaign committee circulated
literature which extolled the blessings of a rising
dollar and falling prices. After 1890 new grid
mines were discovered, and the increase In the
production of gold has surpassed all previous
records. In 1S90 the republican speakers were
talking about the possibilities of a flood of sil
ver, and yet, today, the annual production of
gold is greater than the annual production of
both gold and silver In 1890. This increase n
the world's supply of money has been felt the
world over and ''the period of the Roosevelt
administration" has been marked by Improved
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