The Commoner
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
VOL. 8, NO. 10
Lincoln, Nebraska, March 20, 1908
Whole Number 374
CONTENTS
THE RAILROADS AND THE PEOPLE
"TOMORROW"
PLUTOCRACY'S .DEFENDERS
THE TRAVELING MAN
MR. BRYAN AND MINNESOTA
THE OLD, OLD STORY
MR. REVELL ON GUARANTEED DEPOSITS
QUOTING SCRIPTURE
PUSHING THE "MILLION ARMY" PLAN
WASHINGTON LETTER
COMMENT ON CURRENT TOPICS
HOME DEPARTMENT
WHETHER COMMON OR NOT
NEWS OF THE WEEK
"THE BEST AND ONLY POLICY"
George Harvey, editor of Harper's Weekly,
reputed to be owned by John Pierpont Morgan,
made en Interesting answer to the New York
World's query, "What is the best principle and
what the best policy to give the democratic party
now life?" Here is Mr. Harvey's answer:
To the Editor, of the World: The best
principle: -The constitution. The next befit:
Tariff for revenue only. The best and only
policy: Beat Bryan. GEORGE HARVEY.
New York, March 10.
t? W t
UNDER THE GUARANTEE SYSTEM
A reader of The Commoner sends in an
item in regard to an Iowa bank which failed.
The amount on deposit was about $200,000, of
which $7,000 belonged to the county. The
county had security and as soon as the failure
was known, the county compelled the bondsmen
to make good the deposit, but the individual
depositors, not having any protection, lost a
considerable part of their deposits.
Under the guarantee system all of the de
positors would have been paid in full and the
community would not have suffered from em
barrassment. it t it
tJV Vv W a"
A PERTINENT Qt ESTIOX
The New York World prints under the
headline, "Three Questions fcr Mr. Bryan," the
following editorial:
"Tho Nebraska convention having
adopted Mr. Bryan s platform and indorsed
Mr. Bryan for president, the World repeats
the three questions which Mr. Bryan has
not yet answered:
"What states did you lose in 1890
which you could carry in 1908?
"What electoral votes did you lose in
1900 which you could win In 1908?
"What elements of dissatisfaction and
discontent did you fail to arouse then which
you could successfully appeal to now?"
It would be much more to the point if the
New York World would answer, for the benefit
of its readers, the single question: "What is
the extent of the financial interest held by
Joseph Pulitzer, owner of the World, in rail
road companies and in great corporations com
monly known as trusts?"
The. answer to this question might 'uncover
the special interests for which the New York
World speaks.
- - , . r ii ! im . ama
"1 WONDER IF I HAVE NOT BEEN FOLLOWING IT LONG ENOUGH?"
The Railroads and the People
The events of the past three years have
given to the railroad question a prominence
which it has not enjoyed for s ie twenty years.
In the seventies the Granger cases occupied tho
attention of the courts, and they arose from the
enforcement of certain laws enacted by the va
rious states. During the period of railroad de
velopment the iron horse rode over everything.
Every section wanted a railroad, and no ques
tions were asked. In many states bonds were
issued in aid of railroads, and all sorts of frauds
were perpetrated on unsuspecting communities.
The abuses of the taxing power became so
flagrant that a number of the states adopted
constitutional provisions prohibiting the vote
of aid to railroads Illinois inserted such a pro
vision in her constitution of 1870.
The Granger cases, as they were called, es
tablished tho right of the states to regulate the
railroads so far as local rates and local opera
tion were concerned. The movement in favor
of railroad regulation did not spend its force
until in 1887 it secured the enactment of a
federal statute establishing an interstate com
merce commission, and conferring upon it cer
tain powers. Then followed nine years of litiga
tion, during which the railroads were contest
ing each point, as they had contested each point
in the states, and at the end of the time the
interstate commerce act was so weakened by
judicial construction and interpretation as to be
of little practical value. The next ten years were
spent in an effort to amend the act and enlarge
the scope of the interstate commerce commission,
but the railroad lobby at Washington was so
powerful that all attempts at legislation were
blocked. Individuals and cities complained of
discriminations, and rates were complained of,
but the railroads used their absolute power to
prevent legislative relief.
They even went so far as to secure the
passage of a bill repealing the criminal provi
sion of the interstate commerce act. This Is
known as the Elkins act. As it was necessary
to have some plausible excuse the bill was in
troduced as an antl-rebato bill, but the repealing
clause was its most important feature. Some
of the railroads were being compelled by tho
trusts to give rebates, and it was known at the
time that several of the large railway systems
were back of the bill. Secretary Taft has re
cently referred to tho Elkins act as an act which
was satisfactory to tho railroads.
During the eighties and nineties there were
attempts at rate reduction in several states, but
these measures were all opposed by the rail
roads, and when enacted were nearly all suspend
ed by the federal courts. In Nebraska a maxi
mum rate law was enacted in 1891; the vote
was close in the legislature, and the railroads,
in the hope of defeating the measure, took one
member out of tho state on a special train, and
he has never returned. In spite of this bold at
tempt to control the legislature the bill passed,
and was promptly held up by the federal court.
The case reached the United States supremo
court in the course of a few years, and was
argued in the spring of 1897. The decision,
which was rendered after considerable delibera
tion, sustained the injunction, but left the way
open for a modification of the decree if condi
tions changed. Unfortunately, the opinion laid
down no rule for the determination of a reason
able rate, and state legislatures and state com-