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The Commoner
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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VOL. 8, NO. 47
CONTENTS'
THE GROWTH OF SOCIALISM
FOR WHOM DOES HE SPEAK?
SPEAKER ROOSEVELT
COERCING THE VOTERS
SOLVING THE MYSTERY
DEFICIT
TOM JOHNSON "BROKE" BUT STILL
FIGHTING
THE CORONER'S INQUEST AN INTER
ESTING REVIEW ' -
COMMENT ON CURRENT TOPICS
HOME DEPARTMENT
WHETHER COMMON OR NOT -
NEWS OF THE WEEK ' ' .
COERCING THE VOTERS
Every American Citizen Hns" the Right to Vote as
. Ho Thinks Best - -We
fear ttyat in thp event of Mr. Bryan's
election on November .3, we may not be in, posi
tion to give $ach $110 of you a pay envejopp 'here
after, for we JfeeT that his ..election would cer
tainly develop a lack- of confidence and business
ftepresldn'with'not enough Vorlc for all of us.
Xho business world has faith in Mr. Taft's
policies, '
Your interests and ours are identical.
THE AtJLT & WIBORG CO.
- (Cincinnati, Ohio.), ...
The employers 'who sent the abovo notice1
to tth'eir employes jused' their influence as em
pfoyer's'to frighten those who worked for them. .
If all "employers- valued citizenship at so low a
price, our business -would soon be done along
political lines no one daring to work for a
member of another party, and no one, willing
to 'purchase of one" belonging to another party,
"ft might be well for our public instructors to
spend a little time in emphasizing the right of
each oitizen to make his vote represent his own
conscience and judgment, and in rebuking the
effort of employers to use their influence as pay
masters to control the politics of the country.
tV i&fc to fcT
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Lincoln, Nebraska, December. 4, 1908
Whole Number 411
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BY THE WAY-
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DONT FORGET THE LITTLE FELLOW -
4
THE GROWTH OF SOCIALISM
; FOR WHOM DOES IT SPEAK?
In its issue of November 28 the Outlook
Magazine, edited by Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott,
says: "Neither Mr. Bryan's type of mind nor
his policies are wanted by the people of the
country."
i "For whom does the Outlook speak?
i For the reverend gentleman who, until re
cent disclosures, was presumed to wield au un
chained pen?
' For Theodore Roosevelt, its new associate
editor? Or
' ' 'For Mr. James Stillmau, famous as a mem
ber of the Standard Oil group and destined to
become even more famous as the benefactor
of the Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott, and stockholder
id the magazine of which Theodore Roosevelt
is poon to become associate editor?
iS c 5
I SUPPLANTING PLATT
i One of the quickest waya to' accomplish
postal ' reform and wipe out the-, constant- re
curring postai deficit will be to retire Thomas
Qpfjier PlaTt fronx the senate, and see-to it that
no more representatives oP jthp express- com
panies 4are elected to that body for' the, purpose .
of protecting the Interests, battle express, com
panies at. the expense ,o-,th.e people,- But.notlw
iugiis- to be gainedhy'. supplaniingElatt-fwith-'an -
abler -corporation- agents. ,
t
Tho returns so far tabulated indicate that
the growth of socialism has not been as rapid
during the last four years as during the four
years preceding. Several causes have been giv
en for this retarded growth. First, some demo
crats who voted the socialist ticket four years
ago, voted the democratic this year. Second,
President Roosevelt has stimulated the reform
element in his party to hope for remedial legis
lation from the republican party. Mr. Taft's
nomination was heralded as a triumph for the
progressives and doubtless held within the re
publican party many who would have deserted
it had the reactionary element selected the nom
inee. Third, the active supi.ort given by the
labor leaders to the democratic ticket tended
to reduce to a minimum the socialist gains from
the ranks, of labor. There were other reasons,
but these have been mentioned as among ,the
more influential ones.
""Now what is to bo the future of socialism?
The small vote cast by the independent party
and by the populist party is apt to turn men from
both of these parties to the socialist party. The
defeat of the democratic ticket Is likely to discourage-
some of the democratic laboring- men
and turn them toward the socialist party. Some
of the democrats, not laboring men, may be
weakened in faith and, made susceptible to the.
arguments of socialtsits.' but much depends upon
the character of MrJCTafi'a administration The
argumentff-present ,h?w tjis behalf were incon
sistent in- the wesjUhe. was- represented as a
reformer. ready to piii?dn: tire president's mantle,
Ttye president conaiantly. offered him to Ihe
party as-the' only man to "continue," to "com
plete" and . to "clinch" the reforms upon which
ho, tho president, had entered. In the east
Mr. Taft was represented as a quiet and amiable
candidate who would restore "peace" in tho
business centers, and, as Mr. Rockefeller put It,
avoid "rash experiments" In legislation. Mr.
Taft can not satisfy both sides. Ho may make
an attempt at reforms, but he is quito sure to
bo thwarted by the standpat clement of his
party, and his failure to accomplish anything
In the Interest of tho people if ho falls will
increase the socialist strength.
The socialist, as The Commoner views him,
is an honest and earnest man, but a mis taken
man. Seeing abuses that ought to be corrected,
he seeks to overturn tho entire industrial sys
tem. That there is injustice in the distribution
of the rewards of labor, no one can deny, and
starting with this admitted injustice, with the
"known abuses," which even Mr. Taft concedes,
the socialist makes them the basis of his pro
test against individualism. The scientific so
cialist presents- a- new system which ho would
substitute for individualism. There Is no donbt
that the theory of socialism appeals to a senti
ment and yet the proponed system will not staad
the test of analysis or reason. Tho socialist
is as much mistaken m seeking to destroy com
petition as is the parent who imagines that his
' child can be made stronger and better by re
lieving him of the struggle that has developed
the father. In the careers of the sons of the
rich we find one. of tho strongest arguments
. againstvthe elimination of competition. Children
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