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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1909)
-v . ; ,$ ttM4 'ww v 'wpy -?y- ,,rTKyf,'KfJ?iwyjwffr - -fc-w . (.yirf- A E& fv. i t IBBHlBS BiBBS Wo do not legislate against the man who uses tho printed pago for the purpose of deception but, viewed from tho standpoint of morals, tho man who, whether voluntarily or under instruc tions, writes what ho knows to bo untrue or purposoly misleads his readers as to tho char acter of a proposition upon which they have to act, Is as guilty of wrong-doing as the man who assists in any other swindling transaction. Another method employed to mislead tho public is tho publication of editorial matter sup plied by thoso who havo an Interest to serve. This ovll Is oven moro common than secrecy as to tho ownership of the paper. In tho case of tho weolcly papers and tho smaller dallies, the proprietor is generally known, and it Is under stood that tho editorial pages represent his views. Ills standing and character givo weight to that which appears with his endorsement. A fow years ago, when the railroad rate bill was before congress, a number of railroads joined In an effort to create a public sentiment against the bill. Bureaus were established for tho dis semination of literature, and a number of news papers entered into contract to publish as edi torial matter tho material furnished by these bureaus. This can not be dofonded in ethics. Tho purchase of the editorial columns is a crime against the public and a disgrace to journalism, and yet wo havo frequent occasion to note this degradation of tho newspaper. A few. days ago Senator Carter, of Montana, speaking in the United States senate, read several printed slips which woro sent out by a bankers' association to local bankers with the request that they bo in serted in tho local papers, suggestion being made that the Instructions to tho local bankers be removed before they were handed to the papers. The purpose of the bankers' association was to stimulate opposition to the postal savings bank, a policy endorsed affirmatively by the republi can party and, conditionally, by the democratic party, tho two platforms being supported at the polls by moro than ninety per cent of tho voters. I no bankers association is opposing the policy and, in sending out its literature, it is endeav oring to conceal the source of that literature and to make it appoar that the printed matter ren- ' mimU?. 0I,ini0n C 8 ono in io com ., The journalist who would fully perform his ..-duty must be not only incorruptible, but ever . alert, for those who aro trying to misuse th newspapers are able to deceive "the v"ry llec?S Whenever any movement Is on foot for the se curing of legislation desired by the predatory interests, or when restraining legislation to threatened, news bureaus aro establ shed at Washington, and these news bureaus furnish to .; such papers, as will use them, free renorta dallv ' or weekly as the case may be from the nation capitalreports which purport totfve general SSSS JJSnSSL 252?" Z fa! f..SSmn08ithSneB doclare(1 at the man who re- Hn 1J i ?ral vlctory as well as tho satisfac- The profession for which I was trained , nnTpre8en.tR another 1In of temptauons T h$ has done his full dutv n T i entltIed to, ho goes beyond this he goes It V Tl aV,d if he me a lawyer who ha! spent a h?h Verih .Show obscure tho line between ? rleh ?e tryIng to Ing to prove that to bo Just whh h?' iry' bo unjust, and I will show vnT, 1 l he knew to grown weaker n cl arSvl? I1 who has whoso advice, at last wil M by year and clients, for ho win have lost tl?l Vahle to hls corn between right and won? Si WOr to d,s" the other hand, a lawyer I i SUow me' n - time in tho search for truMi 1 T SPent a lit low where it loads, and L " win ti1ermlned to fo1" who has grown stronger in IhltV ?ou a niaa and whose advice coMtontlvh2cter day b day "able to his client bee ,Shonies more val" ' ecauso the Power to discern The Commoner the truth increases with the honest search for it. Not only in the court room, but in the con sultation chamber the lawyer sometimes yields to tho temptation to turn his talents to a sordid use. Tho schemes of spoliation that defy the oflicers of the law are, for the most part, in augurated and directed by legal minds. Presi dent Roosevelt, speaking at Harvard a few years ago, complained that tho graduates of that great university frequently furnished the brains for conspiracies against the public welfare. I was speaking on this very subject in ono of the great cities of the country some months ago, and at the close of the address, a judge commended my criticism and declared that most of the lawyers practicing in his court were constantly selling their souls. The lawyer's position is scarcely less responsible than tho position of the jour nalist, and if the journalists and lawyers of the country could' be brought to abstain from the practices by which the general public is over reached, it would be an easy matter to secure the remedial legislation necessary to protect the producing masses from the constant spoliation to which they aro now subjected by the privi leged classes. Most of you, I presume, will engage in what is known as business, although I confess that I have no sympathy with the narrow definition which is often given to the word, business. Every person who contributes by brain or muscle to the nation's wealth and greatness is engaged in business and is a necessary factor in the world's progress. Commerce is an increasing factor in the busi ness world. It includes both exchange and transportation and stands next in importance to production. Production comes first, but pro duction could only be carried on on a limited scale without the exchange of merchandise. To desire to gain an honorable distinction in this department of labor is a worthy ambition. He who improves the instruments of trade or brings Kl,?a?Seima?d consumer nearer together, and thus facilitates exchange, may count himself a real benefactor. But even here there aro temp tations to be avoided. Let me suggest three Sirf' d0 not mean to say ttat the element of chance can be entirely eliminat ed from any kind of business. The fatme takes his chances upon the seasons; the1 merchant takes his chance upon the market; the railroad . owner takes his chances upon both the season and the market; and we all take our chances upon sickness and death. Uncertainty entors into every human calculation, but a distinction can be drawn between those uncertainties which nil nufnfaVOldable' and those certainties which are of the very essence of the transaction. There 5.a gltImat? Work for the stock exchange and for the chamber of commerce, but there is Sn illegitimate and vicious speculation on the stock exchange and the produce market which has lured many business men to their fa The nrrnvacy meih0ds of 'cumulation are neces! sarily slow when competition is left free toS ulato profits, while the gambler is spurred on by the hope of quickly realizing a large nrofS upon a 'small investment. It is not st tw many are charmed by the siren fnnt ! nf ticker, but it mLnseruSin,enand0ntf the ex! ?' & cLnsS unS 2MKSJ latLn pon'Tnlocr pfrfie6:11 J?"" of -Peou- juggled up o?7ugled Swt hvH prperty is tors of the market but I mall,Pula- not to the innocent outsider ffiW myself may bo tempted by the nrnm ?l to,those who inside ring. "would UBP7m,8Bd to the hose who by cornering thf SwWmr' that law of supply and demand et fued the and defraud those 2 2 ad(J crlUe to vice in a "chance" which has n ndU?ed to Invet j .Monopoly is tic secon? Jftua xistence. . t Jon, Monopolies h "t nJP131 i teniPta" ,s nee trading began and tw , attemPted ever today than Iver befo?e he?mfJ WOPe conmon be made out oV fRSS.S?.86 ??orevmoney can ness men permit themselves- to iTT5 bus Practices which are noltnYy8 iden SSTta VOLUME 9, NUMBER 4 realm of conscience, but which violate the jfnt utes. The officers of the law are constantly l of Trade l prevent the mnopolizi?g It is strange that anyone should attempt to defend a private monopoly, for its plan M d operation can be easily understood by any m who knows either human nature or history T judge would be permitted to preside in his own case; no juror would be allowed to serve in a suit to which he was a party, and yet the head of a monopoly arbitrarily decides every dav questions where his interests are on one sido and public interests on the other. Can he be trusted to decide impartially and to exact onlv a reasonable profit? It is absurd to expect him to do justice, to tlose with wlioni he deals, The student of history knows that the monopolist has .always been an outlaw. Three centuries ago, under Queea Elizabeth, the House of Com- mona prptested against the monopolies which Ho'lv fnw Gd' and found the ?? ? Jland' that a very complete monopoly ex isted there some seventeen hundred years ago Josephus tells how John of Gishala secured a monopoly in olive oil and charged ten times as EV0! the. oil, as he paid for. it. For the benefit of-those who think that all monopolies are traceable to-the rebate, I venture to sug gest that the oil trust of Palestine was succesf Sli peraiedT 5efore railroads existed. But 2ftbi?S1.Jolm had nomS better than a fast freight line of donkeys and distributed the oil in goat skins, he showed as correct an under standing of the possibilities of monopoly as any wffthS.agnateTh,aB-today and X hav Pondered whether our John secured his idea1 of an oil trust from John of Gishala. rJ?Q S1edi.lawB makine the private monopoly Impossible, birt we must have back of these laws wlSS? ?entAmen in condemn thl club wielded by the monopolist, as moral sentiment ?h0?Mem?8 th? JHwayman'a bdgeon The third temptation to which the commercial man s subjected is . the corruption of politics Just in proportion, as. a corporation secures a monopoly of the business in which It is engaged Vi7 f."s-aco,. ttuu . x may aaa. tne nifH- ffontyfnMeCUrin .'fi&nlation incfpasSs ta TAporw t on to the necesdfty for it. Shjcipaf " co?run . .tion.haSbe;come a byword, and the lobbytet has made, his evil presencV left at 'th nSSonar and state capitals Bribery is becoming a fine art spre'Thenllf nri3. setatL is ?i a, e one lesson that must be taucht is that the man who gives a bribe is as-wicked as the man who accepts it I am not luTe but that he is more wicked, for thT necessities of S?HnTn W accept the briSeif Tee" Caii palliate such an offenseare usually greateJ than those of the man who offers it n anneal toS nTA t?,0emias,UScetoonteheh edl" ' S2f e"r?a,, WS? "What Shanar? ana VsefulneSall ianrunon ttPiTS' honor tion is not merely to fiJ? VUJ?0Be of educa' to- prepare m TaJ'd woS? the mlnd; Ifc Is ,The measure o a rii eacher says, or does. from an Inspee tte "elnSn the. conception, of life whirl, minaon papers; away must be, SuSSdta SEti?1 fionf erued. The pecuniary ?lw25ii G 5eneflts are usually small 'Xn rnJ ,of the teaoher wards of buXei. Thl? ?aX!?d Vth th& re" to our failure to feoffivZLSr in Part which the teacher S ? but ?fPatS the worlc .accounted for yfilWiy derives from his S ? Pe teacher than that obtaild rom Z?talpn sreater ments. . 'a Irom mPst ptjher employ- -of Ihe SenS8', intact: with the life "Dived from the , cSSwtoS 5 oy is" de Qthers,; . the teaSJrf ij2h5 v 8n2'--h?ylns befited found in the SowlLi?unPJ,tewi,,,-to bo his influence 1 th?ougf fuVlat 'he Projecting -"ougn future generations. The HKKllllllB
