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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1909)
!PppwjF'l'fr" The Commoner. VOLUME . 8, NUMBER 61' jBHSfllSl!ISIP5SSw SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF 1908 S mm .... -. i.t tti ir rrU tnf1i rey jh:. f, uay, rraino viuw, xvuu. x mu- f qnco that gained us votes was six or seven thor oughly posted men wno wore noi airuiu iu lum. and the republicans, not "being ,ablo to answer thoir arguments, were kopt on tho defensive. A good many votes were lost hecauso of fear of a business panic; this fear was strengthened by a swarm of traveling men who made it a point to see every business man in town. They received a hot reception hero and were told that Russia was the place for a business man of that sort where one party was in power all tho timo and business was never disturbed by elections. Tho democratic party can nevor olect a president until it has tho loyal support of at least half of tho newspapers of tho country. During tho campaign I had here samples of county and village papers from dif ferent sections of tho country, and -it was all Taft, Taft, Taft! Taft would have been elected if running for Icing. Tho most dangerous foes of liberty are capital, business and venal press, Just as in 177G. L. J. Mason, Kansas City, Kan. As tho same tomptations, tho samo fears, and the same leadings of truth come to all, by watching our own mental operations wo can know. something of. the mental workings of others. There is no , man bo depraved but that ho can feel the lead ' Irigs of truth, and no mortal man so gpod but ' tflnthb has the temptation to err, and whether ' v 'f iro$ risht or wrong depends, upon the weight ftp, gives to trh or .error. To overcomq error' . in the life pf the' (najtipn,, as well as in tho life ,,.Uf tl'e' individual takes,. ,$ , struggle, a re-adjust- hipnt; requires,, courage,,. trip through .eRed' , soft and the wild.erness., in,order to. e,ach the , ;prpmised land. Evil will ,,off$r..rewardjTto its' tl$ervahts and it takes, conviction, and strength ,. to say "Got, behind ipe Satan, .,1 do nqt be . libVo there is anyone who as .apnatteis of. ,prin ,. clple. would nott agree thai oqual rjghts to all.. t mankind aro b,eter than special privileges, and if th cpnscioncq of men were voted wrong'. would , not b.e perpetuated, But working against. every ' advancement of the nation, are, three elements of human character i)rejudicq, avarice and fear. Prejudice does not think;, does nqt study 'principles; does not get down to the issues of today, but votes preconceived irrelevant notions of tho past, Avarice fqods on special privilege and looks to the maintenance of evili fop. its support. But the greatest campaign oratp'r of , special privilege is fear.. Fear says, .that, .special . priiloge is, responsible tor all, g.oqd t .things, ,. threatens the manufacturer with less orders.", the. merchants with less business,, the' fanner .with' . lower "prices, the ,laborqr with, less wages,, Many ' said got behind me, Saj:an,. but many believed fear. But prejudice,, ayarice. and fear havq no kingdom nor pow,er;, hold nothing of good for mankind. Their falsity will be detected and l''jthVay twill be cast out. James Z: Quinlan, Kansas Qlty, Kan. I wish to give my idea as a democrat who voted for every democratic presidential candidate from Cleveland up to the present. This timo I voted for Mr. Debs. First, your ' platform and Mr. . Taft's was identical insofar as it affected the man who was looking for work. Second, if this country is so weak that a few men can stqp all industries and cause thousands of people to suf fer for food, then the quicker this system of government is destroyed, and out of the wreck something solid is built tho better. Third, why should man cry for work and watch his children starvo while our resources are still untouched, just because some one says that is not tho way to run the government. Fourth and last, I' have began to think that I am just as much entitled to live as J. D. Rockefeller. O. S. Grinnoll, Big Rock, 111. I stood in Chicago the night of election and read reports coming from democratic wards that were an astonishment to me. Bryan barely carried the ' First ward and in and around, the stock yards Taft made so !great a run that wonderment was expressed on all sides. Those precincts were ' dominantly Catholic which ordinarly were democratic- There is only one explanation the . Catholic voto was crivon tJn Mr. rPnft Mr nrumi mado strong inroads upon republican wards. Perhaps this may be an oxnianation whv Now York, a Catholiq city, reversed its previous great democratic' niator'itlqs "ad gave Tft' 15,000 to the good. ThV'course rpFeforme'r" As to keep right on sowing; thV good WoV "'A -man must be a fobl to think he can 'reap -a 'crop before "it 5 THE SCOPE OF THE INQUIRY In its issue of November 13, Tho Commoner invited contributions to a symposium, having for its purpose an inquiry into tho causes of the results of tho 1908 election. The Commoner asked the co-operation of its readers in every section of tho country, submitting these questions: Did 'the democratic party make losses In your county and precinct? If so, to what influence were such losses due? "What course shall reformers adopt for tho futuro? Can the democratic party hope ever to gain control of the federal government? Tho fourth installment of this symposium is printed in this issue; It should be understood that the publication of any particular opinion does not mean that The Commoner endorses that opinion. In order that the inquiry shall be thorough it will be necessary that wide scope be given the contributors to this symposium, and these opinions are to bo printed with the names of the writers. is ripe," is an pi d saying but good. However, it is a question whether the democratic party will ever kgqt control of the federal government . again. There are thousands of republic.ins.who" have sthe 'utmost confidence in William Jennings Bryan and sincerely believe in the reforms and' principles he has advocated, but they do not1'' look with confidence upon his party. At the; crucial moment they are afraid to break away from their, political affiliations. E. Diefendorf, Leavenworth, Kan. In an- , swering questions in your issue of the 13th inst.., relative , to .the causes of the last presidential,' eiuuuou; v irst, i ue poorer pi mpney econa,rn The disregard of civil service and' the employes ' of the government, from the highest te, the. jlow-. ,f est by their votes. Third, Thq purchase of. .dem ocratic newspapers and voters. fourth, The,, government pensions.' Fifth, The Cathol.iq vote. Sixth. The foreign imperial influenqq. .Seventh,, , The Jewish influence. Eighth, Influence of , national bank,s, railroads and combines, , , ,,,f ' . i C, R, Pleasants) Poseyville,i Indk-We made-: : r a great fight, for you in Indiana this. yearandrf: -,ou,r onlyregr.qt isthat wq 'could not putthev statp In the democrat column, for you. We'how-J .. ever, elected a fine governor, and eleven out of ti thirteen congressmen, and will soon elect aJ. . senator to succeed James A. Hemenwayj thei.f gentleman from this district whom we have been-"u trying to dqfqat for eighteen years, We all hope that wo may yet see you elected president'. , R. O. Harris, Sedalia, Mo. No doubt you were, for and away, th m'ost popular candidate ' : in the field, and deserved success. The result, however, so far as I am concerned, has proven " ! the straw that broke the camel's back and par alyzed me. As to how it happened that seems . very evident you were beaten in your third race by the same influence that beat you in your first and second ra'ce and will likewise beat you again. Tho fact Is. union labor will not vote tho democratic ticket and. reinforced at elections with the negro vote, it is very plain that this country must follow in the footsteps . of Mexico, Russia and Turkey. T. J. Hughes, Ruthven. la. Guaranteed banks, election of United States senators by; direct vote of the people and tho tariff to a revenue basis are coming. Mr. Bryan's place in history will b6 greater than the man who acts as president and signs the measures that Bryan's .' influence has forced through congress. Frank E. Parke, McCurtain. Okla. I am very doubtful of the ability of the democratic party to ever get 'control of the national govern- . ment, under tho name, but I do think the prin ciples of democracy as taught by Jefferson and ' which are the spontaneous sentiments of every nnbias'ed heart will yet prevail.' Too much straw ' is ,yot. given thq children of tsrael to use in making brick, when the supply is denied them , they will seqk. M.oses, and by his leaflnraiiin i, v Pharoah of, trusts will be buried in a redder .the. instituting a, systqm of Internal' .Imm' . i V . iY? employment and- wages .. to ' the unemployed in times of money stringency and other things that may later appear for the good of the great producing part of our population all combined in a platform may lead to victory tho party adopting it regardless of name. Some of the younger generations having been taught that our government is a republican form of government think when it has passed from the hands of the republican party that the enemy have it. An old fellow whom I once asked why ho was a republican told me that "our govern ment is a republic and I think it is right to be a republican." S. T. Davis, Kansas City, Mo. The cause of our defeat in Missouri is about as follows: The negro vote aroused by threats to disfran chise it. Also the immigration of republicans from Iowa. Hereafter reformers must adopt state and national prohibition. No hope for democracy aside from this issue. Republican money, 200,000 public officers and coercion de feated Bryan. Liquor defeated Bryan. Also white slaves (laborers) have lost the spirit of "give me liberty or give mo death." Dr. A. J. Sparks, Lansing, 111. By your request, why we lost: We must come to the conclusion that since the republicans are in and have been in so long, that there are more repub licans in the northern states than democrats. We had to get some of thqm to win. We offered them patriotism, reform and liberty. The re publicans offered them the dollar, good times and plenty of it. They did not take Mr. Bryan's advice but. took Mr. Rodsevelt's and will get it in the neck., What shall we now do? If we werq. right just, keep right on. Shall we ever get in? Not until the democratic, party reforms. I can't illustrate jny meaning. any better than to say I was at a. political ..nieeting. in Chicago in 1897 and among the rqst.there was a negro who prided, himself on beings as democrat. He raadq a. tftwe.-speech and saidr "I am a demo crat., jl do not. expect anythlngiahd do not want anything'.", , iSomejone a.democrat just behind ihim whispered to.- some- 'one beside him,' "and y,o.Utjrti;, never get anything.?'' ; NqwjJth.qrtfs the pointy .He wanted the, .negro votq but was1 not willing to. divide up but when in he wanted it all himself. . H. W Kimball, Nqodesha, Kan. "How did it happen?" I will1 give the result in this coun ty., Wo have' 'sustained losses Itl thq last four -campaigns, -In 1896 Bryan carried this county by 167 majority; in 1900 lbstr,by 350; in 1904' lost by 9.76;? lirf 1908 losfc,rby '650. All'straw votes showfecPtoh'at Bryan Wtild' carry the coun ty again butUhq yotqrs dfd rnot vote as they talked. It would, now seem .impossible to regis ter the honest sentiment of the American voter against intimidation and 'bribery.- I believe democracy should require educational qualifi cations to all1 voters or tax paying qualifications. This would- eliminate1 about all of- the purchase able vote. 'V Democracy could .'then legislate a little for the interest of the common people. CARNEGIE ON THE WITNESS STAND (Continued froni Pago 5) and the committee has that difficulty all the time." "Because I 'am no longer in steel. I have retired," Mr. Carnegie said resignedly. Mr. Cockran asked if the .decrease in the price of steel as a commodity had been accom panied by an equally steady, increase in the rate of wages. "I hardly .think so," replied Mr. Carnegie. I would not be prepared to endorse that." Mr. Dalzell objected to Mr. Cockran's question. "I want to ask you a question to see wheth er or not T understand your testimony," ho said to Mri Carnegie. "Your opinion that steel can be put on tlie free list is not based on any figured cost but on broAd general principles, taking into account that we do not import steel and wo do export some steel, .and taking Into account alsp, ;the great-resoui;cqs, of the country arid the business energy of our people. As I understand you, this is ypnr position. Now, do I state, it jcprrectly?" i,l0 "That ja, true," affirmed the witness. "There has beqn a general consensus of opinion among the sjpl ,me'n that the'ritarjff was a back number,; t, ha,Yp heard the .rraarfer-" . "I though I understood-q and I ram glad to have 'you confirm me," agreed Mr. Dalzell, apparently pleased. with the, reply..,,. .::f ;' VVi hi.uM fc - 'jZZZ22Z:Mfoi iMMfcMfrajama VilTjiirilitttfMfeiiiM
