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Commoner.
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TUB FARMER'S INTEREST
A Cadillac, Mich., reader of The Commoner
K .writes: "The farmers should be with us on tho
. .tariff and trust questions. Around hero tho
.farmers are getting four and one-half cents a
"-pound for hides against eleven cents a year ago.
- .Yet the price of leather is as high as it was
f . last year and no immediate promise of a reduc
. tion, and his shoes and harness are costing him
V. fully as much as a year ago. This year our
7" farmers received fifteen cents for wool against
"' a price of twenty-four a year ago, yet the Amer
? lean Woolen company that controls about 70
- per cent of the leading woolen mills of the coun-
- try is charging as much for woolen cloths as a
v year ago and the farmer must pay .as much for
5? his clothing as he did last year and he is lucky
if ho does not get more cotton in his clothes
than he does wool. Let us direct our efforts to
convince the farmers and laborers that
j ' their interests lie with us. Along that line lies
v the road to victory."
Y Yes, and the farmers should be with us
. on the question of an economical administra
tion. They should be with us in tho protest
' against the exercise of arbitrary power by the
', speaker whereby the house of representatives
i has ceased to be a popular government.
They should be with us in tho condemna-
. . tion of the misuse of patronage; in the demand
' for railroad regulation that will regulate; in
i the advocacy of publicity for campaign contrl-
.'1 butions BEFORE election day.
. -j They should be with us in the opposition
to that centralization which would destroy our
i system of government and ultimately make it
-V necessary for the farmer, as well as other citi-
r" zens, to look to the national capital, rather than
to the state capital and the county seat, when
seeking relief from corporation abuses.
i , They should be with us for the popular
"l election of senators; for the income tax; for
r- V the guarantee to the laboring men, as well as
V tto all men. the right of trial by jury; for the
. vf armor has a deep concern in the welfare of the
. '.-laboring man Who is the consumer of the farm-
" sir's products.
They should be with us on the guarantee
of bank deposits; for what shall it profit a
farmer if he obtain high prices for his product
tind then have no place where ho may, with
absolute confidence,' deposit his hard earned
money?
.:' ' They should be with us upon the great
. ' question "shall the people rule" for the farmer
has a deep and abiding interest in popular gov
' eminent; and if he does not already know it,
'' ". investigation will reveal to him the fact that in
. ' the language of the democratic national plat
form " 'shall the people rule' is the overshadow
ing issue which manifests itself in all the ques-
tions now under discussion."
; , 2& t2" 5
"GIVE THEM A JURY"
On May 7, 1896, when the contempts of
court bill was pending in the United States
senate, Mr. Bryan, then editor of the Omaha
World-Herald, printed this editorial:
"Senator Hill has reported a bill regulat
ing punishment for contempt by United States
courts. When the contempt is committed in
the presence of the court, summary punishment
is permitted as now, but when tho contempt is
committed beyond the court room and not in
the presence of the court, the offender must bo
arrested upon complaint duly filed and must
be given a trial as in criminal cases. The ac
cused can have a jury only on condition that
the court permits it. This is a defect which will
doubtless .be corrected before the bill passes.
While it is true that a judge would generally
hesitate to refuse a jury when demanded, yet
it is dangerous to leave such a question to the
discretion of the court. If it is said that tho
request would always be granted, why not make
it a matter of right rather than a matter of
. grace? If the judge Bhould, in the exercise of
his discretion, refuse a jury, it would be sure
to arouse hostile criticism and might work great
injury. Senator Allen should watch for this
bill and introduce an amendment guaranteeing
a jury trial, whenever demanded by the accused."
"AFTER THE ELECTION"
A' dispatch to the Chicago Tribune under
date of New York, July 22, follows: "The re
port that the Standard Oil company is about to
announce an increase of $500,000,000- in its
capital stock was received with great interest
in the-financial district-here today. Similar
rumors have been circulated several times in
X-
tho last few years, particularly in tho wost, but '
generally they have boon met with denials by
the Standard Oil intorests. A prominent finan
cier who has close relations with tho Standard
Oil company said: 'I am sura that it i3 tho
samo old story revived again and that thoro is
nothing in it. Certainly this would bo a moBt
inopportune time to take any such action, with a
presidential election only a few months ahead
of us. I suppose it is possible that something
of. that kind may bo done some timo in tho fu
ture, but not this year not now.' "
This would be "a most inopportune timo"
to pump a half billion gallons of water into tho
Standard Oil stock. If anything like that is
dono it will bo In accordance with other repub
lican plans "after the election."
"After tho election" tho tariff will bo re
vised by a party that derives its campaign
funds from the special beneficiaries of tho tariff.
"After the election" the contributions to
tho campaign fund will bo published when it
is too late for the people to learn that tho
trusts pay the bill for tho republican campaign.
"After tho election" Standard Oil trust
stock will be watered if that course suits tho
purposes of tho Rockefellers and tho Rogerses;
and "after the election" should tho people re
elect the special privileges' party they will pay
dearly for their indifference to tho solemn warn
ing confronting them on every hand.
O v v
MISREPRESENTATION
Tho New York Sun says of tho organized
workingmen of tho country that "they aro nat
urally resentful of Mr. Goinpers' promise to sell
their votes in a body for his own personal ag
grandizement." Timo was when tho New York Sun made
some pretense of being reliable, but if this
statement is the measure of its present relia
bility a great change for the worse has como
upon it. Mr. Gompers has not promised to .
"sell" the votes of organized labor. An inti
mation that he has done so is a gratuitous in
sult to a man who has won high place in tho
regard of his fellow workers by his storllng
integrity and his earnest devotion to the cause
of organized labor. Neither has he promised to
deliver tho votes of organized labor to any
ticket. An Intimation that he has is an indict
ment of his intelligence, which has served to
make him the head of a great organization num
bering upwards of 2,000,000 members. Are
republican organs so afraid of an Intelligent
labor voto that they seek to keep it in ignor
ance of tho facts and appeal to prejudices and
passions instead of to reason?
&fi i&ri 2r lift
UNFORTUNATE
In the light of the bitter criticism visited
upon Judge Landis by Judge Grosscup in releas
ing the Standard Oil company from fine, it will
not do, of course, to criticise the court, al
though we have eminent republican authority
for such a course I. e., Theodore Roosevelt's
criticism of Judge Humphrey's beef trust de
cision. We make bold to say, however, that
the New York World puts it forcefully, although
calmly, when It says: "It Is unfortunate this
most harsh condemnation of a judge by his
higher associates should have been for his at
tempt adequately to punish tho Standard Oil
company."
l&r? 1r 1&&
A SUGGESTION TO MR. SHERMAN
Associated Press dispatches say that Rep
resentative l James S. Sherman, tho republican
nominee for. vice president, will make a-tour
of th,ewest in behalf of the republican ticket.
We suggest- that Mr, Shermanwho is Speaker
Cannon's right hand' man in tho house, tell tho
people what he thinks of the republican revolt
against Cannonism.
By tho time Mr. Sherman gets through ex
plaining to republicans tho methods of tho
Cannon-Sherman oligarchy in the house, ho
may havo some time, to deyote to his widely ad
vertised "arraignment of democrats.
w fr ils
NOT ISSUES!
Attorney General Wade H. Ellis of Ohio
who was a member of the committee on reso
lutions in the republican national convention,
issued a statement in which, referring to tho
propositions voted down in the republican con
vention he days: "Of the seven omissions ho
(Mr. Bryan) refers to, six are In, no sense issues
before the people at this time, nor has there been
i any attempt to make them such by tho admin
istration, nor 'by! any! oth'or Inllubntlnl Jolomcnt
in tho party. Tho'sevcnth concerns injunctions."
Many republican papers supproHHOd this
portion of Mr. Ellis' statement. The reaHon for
tho suppression will bo readily undrntood when
it in remembered that among the propositions
which Mr. Ellis says aro "In no sense Issues
beforo tho peoplo" aro the following:
Publicity of campaign contributions.
Ascertaining tho value of railroads.
Tho national Income tax.
The encroachment of prodatory wealth.
Popular election of United States senators.
Mr. Ellis has,- perhaps, noticed that since
tho publication of his statomont tho republican
candldato for prosldont has glvon proof that
ho has discovered that tho peoplo havo some
concern in tho publlclty-of-campalgn-contrlbu-tlons'
proposition.
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SHAME ON YOU, GOVERNOR!
Edward W. Iloch, republican governor of
Kansas, In an Interview printed in tho Chicago
Tribune, speaks rather lightly of Judge Gross
cup's decision In tho Standard Oil 'case. Tho
Tribune quotes the govornor as saying:
"The upper court seems impressed by tho
fact that Judgo Landis was 'hard' on the Stand
ard Oil company. I was always impressed by
tho fact that tho Standard Oil company was
hard on mo and on every ono elso that it got
a crack at."
The Trlbuno takes tho trouble to nay that
Govornor Hoch made this remark "scornfully."
Shamo on you, Governor Iloch, for intimating:
that Judgo Landis was not entitled to the drub
bing ho received.
Jb fcTV nt O
NOT AN INCH CONCEDED
Tho New York Evening Post says that the
democrats "practically concede New York to the
enemy." Tho Post is mistaken. New York is
democratic ground and every Inch of It will be
contested.
M w i3 i2
ANTI-IMPERIALIST LEAGUE
Tho following dispatch carried by tho As
sociated "Pre&V explains itself:
Boston, July 10. The executivo commit
tee of the anti-imperialist league issued a state
ment today recommending that the friends of the
league withhold their votes from William H.
Taft for president and support William J. Bryan.
The statement says:
"Wo believe In tho declaration of inde
pendence. Its truths aro not less self evident
today than when first announced by our fathers,
are of universal application and can not be
abandoned while government by tho peoplo en
dures. "Wo boliovo in the constitution of tho
United States. It gives tho president and con
gress certain limited powers and secures to every
man within the jurisdiction of our government
certain essential rights. Wo deny that either
tho president or congress can govern any person
anywhere outaido tho constitution.
"Because wo thus believe, wo recommend
our friends and felldw citizens to withhold their
votes from William H. Taft, who stands upon
the republican platform which denies Independ
ence to tho Philippines and looks t" local home
rule as the only goal to be attained.
So long as these islands are held as posses
sions in defiance of the principles of the declara
tion of independence and without constitutional
authority, the United States is pledged to the
tremendous task of fortifying them and their
. defense, in time of war, while they remain a con
tinuous menace to American labor and Ameri
can industry.
"Though, other ways of opposing the atti
tude of Mr. Taft may be welcomed, it is obvious
direct support of Mr. Bryan Is an effective means
of rebuking imperialism, because of his sincer
ity, and his earnest purpose to secure to the
. Flllpipos their independence, and because he
,. stands upon a platform which, meets upon this
vital issue our unqualified, approval.
"Wo recommend to our members and to
the members of allied leagues and to our friends
generally that they preserve the independence
of the movement, take the most active part in
the pending political campaign and in particular
in their respective districts vote and work for the
candidates for congress who will oppose the
policy of imperialism.
"ANTI-IMPERIALIST LEAGUE,
Per 'Executive Committee: Irving Winslow,
Secretary'
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