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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1908)
-rmfft!SW9lW 2 The Commoner. VOLUME 8, NUMBER 5 jtoako ft f(!W coiiiparlHoiiB. Tho prcridonl of tho United States rocoivc8 a salary of $r0,000 per your. If u president wore elected at thirty-five tho cotiKllLnLloiial limit mid aorvod until ho was Bovonly-llvo- forty years ho would oarn only two million dollars; and yot many times this amount Iiiih Ijcm-ii mado In a day by a corner in stocks or farm produce If a railroad or InKuranen president receives $100,000 a year we call It a big salary, and yet If such an ofllcial were elected at twenty-ono and Kerved Tor fifty yearn he would only ro od vo live mlllloriH IfUH than a railroad presi dent can make in a day by simply issuing a new block of watered stock to himself or by selling a branch line to his road. if Adam had lived until now, and saved ton dollars every day, his total savings (without Interesl) would be less than twcnty-flvo mil lions, and yot one man has, by controlling tho price of oil, amassed a fortune estimated at twenty times that amount. Rockefeller's an nual Income Is probably equal to the averago annual salary paid to one hundred thousand Bchool lenchers. Docs he give to society a ser vice equal to I lie service rendered by the teach ers? If not, ell her he is overpaid, or the teachers aro underpaid. Tho swollen fortunes whoso abnormal growth excites a just alarm aro largely duo to tariff laws, stock gambling, municipal franchises, Industrial monopolies, or to the manipulation of railroads. Some largo fortunes have been made In mining, but wealth taken out of tho earth is not gained through the wronging of others, and unless the mine owner obtains a monopoly of tho product, his output, by increasing the supply, tends to diminish the price to consum ers. Somo largo fortunes have been made by tho Innroaso In tho value of city, property, and theso fortunes have given rise to the discussion and an important discussion it is of tho un earned Increment. Our tariff laws shut out foreign competition and permit the domestic manufacturer to charge un oxccsslvo prico for his product. It is a trans fer of tho taxing power to privato individuals, and tho wrong dono tho consumers is concealed In tho prlco of tho goods. A reduction of the tariff will prevent swollen fortunes insofar as they aro built upon high import duties. Stock gambling naturally leads to the cor nering of tho market, for those who invest large ly in spcculatlvo transactions aro not likely to withstand tho temptation to enrich themselves l)y obtaining control of the market. Tho remedy for stock gambling is to bo found in legislation which will protect tho innocent public from stock conspiracies, and in tho development of a public opinion which will visit condemnation upon big gamblors as it is now visitod upon little gam blors. A number of largo fortunes can bo traced to tho rcckloss granting of municipal franchises. Tho largo cities naturally offer the richest fields for exploitation, and New York, Philadelphia and Chicago havo been workod to the limit Thoro is an onormous valuo, increasing as tho city grows, in tho uso of the streets, and tho corporations which havo secured franchises havo rivaled our mints in the coining of money. Many of these franchises havo been secured bv corrupting tho city councils, nearly all of our largo cities having suffered more or less from tho boodler and tho grafter. Municipal owner ship and operation of municipal franchises offer tho surest romedy, and tho cities aro all gravi tating toward this. However, until public sen timent is ready for this remedy, increasing safe guards should bo thrown about he granting o franchises. First, tho term should bo mad! as short as possible. It is a criminal folly Sga ong term franchises, for, whilo a purchaser would hard y pay more for a thousand-?ear n chiso than ho would for ono running fifty years n Ji?,mmUnity ls tlGd u infinitely en franchises aro necessarily ono-slded sinen tS? uZ T?t? !bflU(l0U th0 Sise'at ay time if it finds it unprofitable, while tho otl can with dlfflculty extricate itsel if 'it finds if has been too generous. iU(ls Ifc Second, every franchise should conHln n alauso permitting tho city to tako contS? of fhS property upon equitable terms tS 1 L e chiso should bo given to tho hi eh 5n fran" the city should reserve the rlJht ?? ,.bU1( ! and rates to bo Charcot? T?m,i?i, g K to rcsulate tho tunes are not. iimnm f.. ",!1 . IllGS0 for- .f -lividouas oo:CZtZ7XX the issue of fictitious capital, by speculation in the stock of tho road, and by the selling of branch linos, equipment, etc., to the road. Some times the president or controlling director buys up small lines, reorganizes them by the issue of new stock and bonds, and then sells them at an advanced price to the road which he controls; sometimes the directors form themselves into a construction company and by contracting with themselves make an exorbitant profit; sometimes roads are wrecked, and when the stockholders havo been discouraged and compelled to sell at a low price, the purchasers rehabilitate the road and then float some more stock. But we have about reached tho end of the exploitation of the public by the railroads. Public sentiment has been so awakened that we may expect remedial legislation in the near future. As the railroads will bo discussed in a separate article, it is not necessary to dwell upon tho remedies at this time. The industrial monopolies have been the most fruitful source of abnormal, unnatural and swollen profits. The Standard Oil company stands, first among the offenders in this respect. It has resorted to every cunning device em ployed by other monopolies, and, in addition, has invented several new ones. It has over reached its competitors by means of secret re bates; it has bankrupted rivals by selling below cost in their territory while maintaining higher prices elsewhere; it has employed dummy cor porations to carry on its work; it has concealed its profits, burnt its books to avoid investiga tion, corrupted courts, debauched legislatures and coerced executives. In a word, it has built colossal fortunes by perpetrating gigantic wrongs, and has clothed its iniquity with hypocrisy. Tho steel trust is another illustration of the power of : onopoly. It floats upon water, having capitalized its power to extort from the public. According to its last annual report its gross sales amounted to nearly eight hundred million dol lars, its net profits exceeded the entire amount paid for labor, and amounted to some twenty per cent of the gross sales. There are smaller trusts, such as the harvester trust, the paper trust, tho tobacco trust, the meat trust, etc., etc., but tho trusts aro ono in object and alike in method. The remedies have been discussed in a former article. At first, attention was attracted to the wrong done to the victims of the trusts; now, however, tho public is beginning to consider also the demoralization which unearned wealth has brought to its possessors. The conscious vio lation of moral law in the amassing of money.; the continuous suppression of the conscience in business transactions, and the wanton violation of the rights of others these have so perverted character that the swollen fortunes havo become as much a curso to those who control them as to the country at large. The fundamental argument advanced in de fense of laws protecting property rights is that the possession of property stimulates industry and economy. People will not labor if the idle can claim an equal reward with the industrious people will not practice self-denial if those who save have no advantage over the spendthrift But this argument can not be invoked in defense of swollen fortunes, for fortunes which rest unon injustice discourage a thousand where they en courage one-and even in the case of he one of a0ricenC0UraSement' bUt Iather the ing oooo "A QUESTION OP PRIORITY" In its issue of January 31, Mr Henr'a SStorlS? AmerICaU Pr'nted " tolffi Mr ;rr:E &&?$?& as his own a viow on the tS 1 ?. inf VA mer'Can' tocSSSK? ? oS jng. in fact, the American does not ,u to pledge to this view at least its fnii ?e,8itate mont and support. It is not a vie vh to remember to have heard from Mr SL h, We and yet there is something Mahout 7 ?i f fore' and pleasantly famiHar .The cSSdIdat?8ftIncVy democratic nomination is disssini . r the flexible currency, and his ni i a more similar to a plaA suggested bv !? exactly man who is not a candidnK nf ,anther Public teresting to place memslaeyde W8 " view was expressed on January 97 n . ?ryan s' 0 Mr. William Randolph Hp JJt n, Janary through tho press a lXtpr 2? ?r me publi Walsh, of Iowa outHninl MQt0 Mr Charles A. Plans and prrncipie'fjn1, SJfffi? f League should be orgSil&lnral states. In the course of that letter Mr. Ilearst also gave his views of a flexible currency, and we place his views and Mr. Bryan's side by side for comparison: MR. HEARST ON JANUARY O I believe that the best plan to secure a more flexible currency adapted to business exigencies or financial crises is to have the government issue a specified amount of money and have the secretary of tho treas ury loan it to the banks, preferably the national banks, on se curity approved by the secretary of the treas ury, and at an interest sufficient to secure the retirement of the issue, when the necessity for it has passed. MR. BRYAN ON JANUARY 27 As to tho elastic currency, I think pro vision could be mado for sufficient elasticity In times of emergency by a. law providing for the issue of United States notes, such notes to be loaned by the government to tho banks upon adequate security, and at a rate of interest which would compel the re tirement of the notes when the emergency is over. "Mr. Hearst has no intention of visiting upon Mr. Bryan, even in a facetious vein, the imputation of being a careful reader and a docile pupil. He is only too glad to have so able and eloquent a recruit to a currency idea which ex presses his earnest conviction." Mr. Bryan appreciates Mr. Hearst's indorse ment of his views and Mr. Hearst will be glad to know that Mr. Bryan is not a new convert. For instance, in The Commoner of Decem ber 20, 1907, Mr. Bryan said: "The president indicates that he is willing to approve of a meas ure which will permit the issue of temporary bank note currency on bonds deposited. - While this would be better than currency issued on the general assets of the bank, it is not necessary to make even this change. Whatever elastic currency is needed ought to be supplied by the government by the issue of United States notes like those now in circulation, and these notes can be loaned to not only national banks but state banks. In The Commoner of December. 13, .refer ring to the President's message, Mr. Bryan said: "While it is some relief to find that he has re sisted the entreaties of the New York bankers to the extent of refusing to endorse the asset cur rency it is to be regretted that he did not de clare himself in favor of the issue of treasury notes as an emergency such notes to be issued to state as well as national banks on such bonds as may be considered safe." In The Commoner of November 8, Mr. Bryan said: "Such elasticity as is necessary should be controlled by the government and not by the banks. The government could furnish a certain amount of elasticity by increasing and decreasing government deposits according to the needs of business; or it could provide for the temporary issue of treasury notes on govern ment bonds whenever an holder of bonds is willing to surrender the interest; or 'it could issue treasury notes in any emergency. But none of these plans will suit the financiers; they Insist upon absolute control of the nation's finances they to reap the advantage while the public bears the burden and takes the chances." OOOO THAT "FULL DINNER PAIL" vi Ilii1St L?,uis' Chicago, pMadelphla and New York there have been demonstrations by "tho unemployed," and the campaign slogan was four years more of the full dinner pail!" OOOO DEPOSITORS SHORT, TOO at , Th? ?J0U,X City (Iowa) Journal says: "The S? S??i oBfan I f N0rth America faed 'to get its share of the returned confidence." The Jour- m ilf 'have added that the depositors a?o a little short on that "full dinner pail." 0000 JUST THE MAN ed 2 ofATdVhe ,humorist, has been select- ?ei5hliPS lnnliana S district delegates to the r,e rtinM al convention. The Commoner of the rPnia1Hr Ade be cuosen as chairman ot the resolutions committee. He will be iust tKt"aft tVUe a ?iank Pmtelng SeSeiSe will be r-viSS preldential election" the tariff iw n iJ2 Sed in tne terest of the public ?unSsP?roma thV0!1 derives campaign iunas from the high -tariff beneficiaries. . J LUiAMUiA-