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The Commoner
VOTOfE g, KGKBER 5
The Commoner
ISSUED VEEKLY.
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Neb.
0, wait and tell it to the readers of tfio
Outlook ,
The "last message of Roosevelt" Is now
alraoKt tip to the Patti farewell tour record.
Those of us who called it "Roosevelt's last
message" have only ourselves to blame for the
error
. The engineers in charge of the canal may
he civil, hut others deeply interested in the
project are not.
Is congress Incompetent?" aslcs the Wom
an National Dally. Guess vhat the average
-woman's answer would he. - ..' f
If this Roosevelt-congress game keep np
much longer we will fcnow whicfe7 side to the
controversy j hetting the foar-flush.
President Clerelnd complained that he
"Jiau! .jxmgram on his hands." But even that
hPf " laying coagregg on his neck.
Tn the jn&mvrhtte Mr. Tim Healey of New
Sr " f$Bl 9e Kecfe PPotalSlcSt as a
LoeM- veracity. But what about Mr.
BpeaMife ot Milton, lio wrote such good
rente that ho would have difficulty in gettimr it
into the modem magazines If ho were grinding
. ??hn B .oclcofollcr Is spending conslder-
fi t,i?r tJr,rIc'r l.hc haTld8 of a Clovoland den
twt We Knew that sooner or later Nemesis
wmild ovortako that man. nemesis
The tariff on carpets Is quite heavy, "for
the protection of American labor," yet the car
pet maliers havo been caught importing foreign
labor to operate the mills. foreign
Tho announcement that there are a million
poundo of butter In cold storage in Chicago wa
rant tho prediction that tho butter market win
bo strong In tho near future.
Says tho St. Louis Republic: "When a
Toxas gamowarden arrested Mr. Bryan he was
mirroundod by 160 dead ducks. What's the
answer?" O, the answer Is easy Mr. Bryan
wasn't arrested by a Texas game warden, and
ho never in his whole life was surrounded bv
150 do.ad ducks.
JUSTICE TO GOVERNOR HASKELL
j
la its isswe oi lltaseSay, Dece&frer 7, the
Ofefe&oaaa City Treses pziats the jfolSowIsg: edl-
A HesxTt-to-Hemt Talk Wflfa 3fy Headers
Wfeea I assayed costrol of the Times last
April. I did so with the lateation ot making it
lay life -wrorS:, detezmlBed to pat fnSo ft my en
tire feeart sad sool for fc&e upbnil&fag of a re
lizble republican newspaper of state wide inSa
estee is Oklahoma.
Today, after slmoet a year of personal en
deaTor, I am yet firm ia my resolution, highly
eaeoaraged by the gesexal commendation of my
readers.
The poller of the Times has always fceen to
tell the truth. As editor ol the Times I have
held sacred my editorial utterances. I have
never published an editorial in the Times which
was not based upon facts facts as far as hnman
research made it possible to obtain. It is my
aim to perpetnate this high standard.
While the editorial columns of a newspaper
are supposed to be the personal property of the
editor in which he mirrors to hl3 readers his
personal views, they belong, in fact, to the
reader.
Apropos this prelude, I wfsb to call atten
tion to one particular instance wherein it has
developed that the Times was mistaken. I refer
to an editorial in which It was stated that
Governor Haskell had been in conference at
Independence, Kznszs, with a representative of
the Standard Oil Interests.
This statement first came to my paper over
the Associated Press wire. It was published by
the leading papers of Oklahoma, both democratic
and republican alike.
The Associated Press dispatch sent out from
Independence, Kansas, said:
r rte'r a ,conferemce with Governor Haskell
of Oklahoma here today it was announced that
7, ,0fl and Gas company will have an
tl i ?tChZipe IlDe t6 tbe Cod? blnffs shallow
sand district, and another of the same size to
the Hogshooter district, each of Bartlesville,
completed and taking oil within sfctty days "
The officers of the Prairie Oil and Gas com
pany, the builders of the pipe line in question
and an acknowledged subsidiary of the Standard
are In Independence. '
ut 3omJUDe intll August 14, the contents of
this dispatch were without contradiction. Dur
ing this period no less than four reliable men
DEMOCRATIC HELP
Governor Albert B. Cummins was elected
to the United States senate by the legislature
of Iowa to succeed the late Senator Allison. In
his speech of acceptance Mr. Cummins said:
"This somewhat personal phase of the occa
sion would not be complete without a word to
the men of the democratic party with whom I
have associated In public affairs. I can not
leave the office I have held for nearly seven
years without thanking them most heaTtily for
their patriotic and efficient assistance in the
legislation that has been adopted in this period
of stress and storm. To them, with like pleas
ure, I, record a promise which shall be sacredlv
kept. I will hold the welfare of my country and
my state high above every other consideration
and will follow truth and justice as they apnear
to me, wherever trey may lead the way"
man JUS ,noteworth' at all republican 'states
men who move along reformed lines find it
KcmSWIease?rat ot me " X o
o tS v5 tl
THAT TENNESSEE IRON AND COAli DEAL
soYa said: KnUte Nelson of Minne-
"It appears that in the midst nf rh o
it was found that certain banks SndhSS-
panies carried stock of the Tranesseai 2m;
Iron company. They hnn i ?e Coal and
Those JtiS ,"
time that there was a mof U?en ?SPT at tt6
a prominent banker in New York ? Si
meeting, in -which the nnBn - al'-nleht
lievingb'tho mono ary fiLl? ,? re"
said.that at that meeting' adopT
assared me that proof of such oin
he had. :"Jl
Trusting, these statements asd alc .
pending on the usual unfaltering reUabili-T r
the Associated Press, known as the kr?s-'u-"j
most anthentic newsgathering ageocr" t
world, I pablished the following edftorX a
August 14:
"Governor Haskell is oat wllb his cbaiv-xs
to Waiiam Busby, Dennis Flynn and Bir-; iI
Clure to meet at sixteen picnics in the " a-,?
discuss matters face to face. He says that B- ix
controls the McAIester News and Bird lM-"r4
the State Capital and Dennis Flynn the Tl
and for that reason he wants to meet thVn: ue
to face. He says he is holding office ar ""
people have a right to know what he i -v -V
What were you doing in the Coates B"7jj
Kansas City on the 16th of Jane in corner
with Mr. O'Neal of the Standard' Ofl and iS
were yoa doing in Independence, Kansas, en it
17th with Mr. O'Neal when you were suj-vi
to be in Muskogee? And please tell us who TCa
were supposed to meet in Chicago? If you an
swer correctly the first time we will complied
you for your honesty. If you evade the quests
the Times will tell you who you were solas to
meet and what for."
When Governor Haskell denied that he bad
held a conference in Independence I caused dili
gent investigation to be made and I am row
satisfied that there was no truth in the said p3
and other reports, and I therefore do not hesi
tate in justice between man and man to sav so.
,r. HeS2rdIess ot the outcome of the pendic?
libel suit I make the foregoing statement simp'.T
for the reason that I desire to be fair.
In the future, as editor of the Times, I
will continue to speak my sentiments out loud.
If I shall have occasion to comment on the
personal or official acts of Governor Haskell, I
shall do so fearlessly and with facts as a basis.
I shall accord him the same fairness and con
sideration as any other citizen.
Fair's fair; right's right
Were it to do over again and I were in
possession of the same seemingly authentic in
formation as I had last August T would take
the same course as I did at that time.
For
It is the mission of the Times to keep the
record straight.
OMER K. BENEDICT.
that would relieve the acuteness of the tension
and stringency. But what was the result of that
all-night meeting? The result of it was this:
Tbe next morning the people who held the stocks
of the Tennessee Coal and Iron company were
given the blessed privilege of exchanging it for
the five per cent bonds of the steel trust In
other words, the steel trust was to relieve the
financial stringency by exchanging its five per
cent bonds for the stock of the Tennessee Coal
and Iron company, and in that way the steel
trust succeeded in absorbing its only rival and
competitor of any consequence. No cash passed
in the transaction and yet it was supposed to
relieve the currency famine. If they had taken
that stock and paid cash for it, I can see how
they might have helped the poor banks that held
the stock and given them a supply of cash.l
mey compelled the banks to exchange that stock
and take the bonds of the steel trust, the five
per cent bonds; and of course those bonds could
only bring cash to the parties who thus obtained
mem by a sale on the New York stock exchange,
i? G way the financial stringency was
relieved in that instance. I remember reading
about that incident I was here in the city at
tne time. I remember that a couple of gentle
men connected with the steel trust came down
here from New York at that time to bushwhack
around and ascertain whether that merger would
stand and would be let alone. I think they went
away satisfied. I refer to this as an incident
showing how the financial stringency was re
lieved on this occasion, and how much credit
certain men assumed for relieving the financial
stringency in that way."
This speech will be found in the Congres
sional Record, sixtieth congress, first session,
pages 2,721 and 2,722.
PJainly, that Tennessee Coal and Iron deal
needs investigation. Would it not be well for
congress to ascertain whether any one gave to
the trust magnates Interested permission to thus
violate tho law!
tl
W fi
