i --- s vp"-
The Commoner.
2
h
domostlc or foreign. Ho Boomed to bo littlo
intorcstod In philanthropic ontorprisos.
Dut possibly it is just as well that his solflsh
ncss manifested itself in tho disposition of his
goods. If ho had boon generous and largo
hcartcd in his bequests, his will would havo
boon used to give a halfway justification to
tho methods which ho employed in tho accumu
lation of his money; but as it is his will presents
an indictment not only against him, but against
.that peculiar typo of business life which ho rep
rosonted a lifo in which tho soul is shriveled
and tho bettor impulses stifled by business prac
tices which deaden tho conscience and rob lifo
of that which makes it worth living. "What
sliall It profit a man if he gain the whole world
and lose his own soul?"
LOST IN WONDER
Tho Chicago Record-Herald reports that
James A. Patton and his associates wound up
their campaign in May wheat with a profit of
botweon three and a half and four millions.
Our legislators are so amazed at tho successes
of tho wheat corner and so lost in admiration
of tho genius that could engineer it, that they
will probably forget the injustice done to the
public and tho demoralizing influence which
speculation exorts upon those inclined toward
grain gambling. How long would it be before
public sentiment will cleanse the stock ex
change, tho board of trado and tho chamber
of commerce from tho abuses which specula
tion in the necessaries of life have introduced?
DEMOCRACY
"Senator McEnery, of Louisiana, in making
an argument for a duty on sugar says: "It is
gratifying that at this session of congress wo
notice a great change of opinion among demo
crats who are voting for a duty on raw ma
terial, although at one time raw material" was
considered a cardinal principle of democracy."
If Sonator McEnery will listen closely he will
notice that the sound which emanates from the
throats of the democrats of the rank and file
when they read of this charge does not re
somble rejoicing. And if the Benator happens
,to.,look in upon the.sonate a few years hence, it
may not'b6 gratifying to him to notice so many
new faces.
- PROTECTION'S FAVORS
The Reform Club (Room 314, 42-Broadway,
N. Y.) has just issued a very valuable pamphlet
entitled "Protection's Favors to Foreigners."
It gives a concise review of the very best
evidence, official and otherwise, brought out in
recent years in regard to the sale of American
manufactured goods abroad at a lower price
than they are sold at home. The readers of
The Commoner are invited to write to the
Reform Club in regard to this pamphlet. Every
one who desires to discuss the tariff question
ought to secure a copy.
INTERESTING
iA ?aJ! haB been established sett Viwfav OMa
called The Bank Deposit Gtonmtfjy .flswi,"
iho purpose of the jasper,, aw ifet mimAP ttmte,
is to keep its resutera; fttffounttfifl jW fo tft
progress that deposfiL &wanaiuttlv iH iwtoty&- t
Commoner Is glad to ewswiKSKB tflkv Wtyftftr ato)4
to call attemfon of Ctannmr tfttaMto (to fit
Those who are iaterasfafi fca tW v'fonni
all ought to be sboctid Iceep &a ivKzh with
the Bank Deposit Guarzntr Jfosiwal,
RISING DE3IOCRAT8
The times arc propitious for tho growth of
democrats Tho Issue between the "plunder
bund" on the one side and tho reform element
of the country on the other Is being more
sharply drawn, and crises like those through
J? SIT Pa1Slng develop 8tron& men- Some
times the hero is a member of congress or a
senator; sometimes he is a member of a state
legislature; sometimes ho is a governor- but ho
is made of the same material everywhere He
stands for honesty in politics, for fiXty to the
party and for justice to tho masses. He is un
corrupted by promises and unawed by threats
Ho prefers defeat in a battle for the right to a
sham victory. To such a man opposition is but
a stepping-stone to larger service Wo arc de
veloping men at Washington. While some dem
ocrats are yielding to tho temptation which the
predatory interests are so well prepared to offe?
and while others are giving a few protected in-
terests preference over the rest of their con
stituents, a number of democrats in the senate
and houso are making substantial additions to
their reputations by able and forceful defense
of tho public interest. In the states, too, tho
contests that havo arisen have tested the metal
of the men and most of, them have rung true.
A number of governors have been given a chance
to show their moral courage by exposing tho
'sophistry and subterfuge employed by those who
attempt to escape from party pledges. The
cause of tho people is moving forward; even
the enemies of the public are by their opposi
tion making more clear the distinction between
democracy and plutocracy. "The darkness
brings out the stars."
THE SOUTH'S "INTEREST"
When Congressman Ransdall, .of Louisiana,
had his tariff speech printod for distribution,
he put at the top of the page, as If for a text,
tho following: "The south, has a1 deep interest
in tariff and Is rapidly changing its views on
the subject. This is especially true of Louisi
ana which has many industries which derive
great benefit from tariff enactment."
What Is the south's "interest" in the tariff?
What percentage of her people are benefited by
a high tariff? Mr. Ransdall ought to have said
that the men in the south who have a personal
. interest in tariff taxation are exerting an in
creasing influence upon the senators and repre
sentatives of the south, and that some of these
representatives are rapidly changing their views
on the tariff question. In Louisiana, as in
other states, a small percentage of the people
make money out of a high tariff, while the rest
of the people bear the burden, but the few
who make the money exert themselves in nom
inating conventions and when congress Is in ses
sion, while the average man Is scratching around
to try and make enough to pay the next assess
ment. It Is time that the taxpayers woke up
and challenged the tax eaters to a battle royal.
The south is just learning what the north has
known for a' long while, namely, that a special
privilege can easily be secured by the organized
,few while the unorganized many find It dlffl
,cult to protect their rights and guard their
.interest.
DEMOCRATIC PROGRESS
. The Springfield (Mass.) Republican , says:
"Texas now has a bank deposit guaranty or in
surance law which is optional and allows a
choice between a guaranty fund plan and a
bonding company plan. Three or four days ago
a dispatch was sent out that the banks were
hostile to either plan, and that only one insti
tution in the state had manifested a disposition
to accept any such arrangement. Now comes
the report that within the two or three days
since the measure became a law twenty state
banks have accepted its privisions, all choosing
tho guaranty fund plan. This means, of course,
that most or all of the other banks will also
como in undor tho act. At least five states now
havo somo form of deposit guaranty, or mutual
insurance of deposits, in operation Texas, Ok
lahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and one of the Da
kotas. Thus upon so much of the issues which
divided the parties In the last presidential con
let Bryan is proving the winner and Taft the
loxor. The latter strongly denounced the
sxhtuno and presented pos'al savings banks in
ctead. And nothing Is now heard of postal
savings banks."
KELP! HELP! HELP!
The retail jewelers of the country, many of
whom supported the republican ticket in the
last campaign, are sending over the country the
following circular:
"The Payne tariff bill, if it becomes a law,
will practically wipe the small jewelers out of
existence, as the duty on watches will be 175
per cent, which is a tremendous increase over
the former Wilson bill (25 per cent) and the
Dingley bill (U2 per cent); it wnfalso mjan
ruination to the Swiss watch importers and the
closing up of American watch case factories not
in the watch trust. Why the watch trust capi
talized for over twenty milion dollars are forc
ing this issue, and asking for protection (?)
must be plainly seen; at the present time
Waltham and Elgin watches are sold in foreSn
countries from. 40 per cent to GQ per cent lis
than the American retail jeweler can buy them
It Js a well known fact .that a' New York retail
-watch dealer on lower' Brpadway has for yMl
reimported Waltham and Elgin watches S
VOLUME 9, NUMBER 23;
undersold this market. The association is try
ing to advocate the following amendment to tho
Payne tariff bill- regarding watches:
" 'Watches sold in foreign countries that arg
in whole or in part of American manufacture
and bearing tho name and trade mark of Amer
ican manufacturers, should come into the United
States duty free.'
"If this amendment becomes a tariff law it
will enable independent dealers to buy trust
watches abroad and reimport them for about
one-half the present price they now pay for
them. Whereby the American people within
the shadow of the watch trust factories would
only have to pay the price charged in London
and other foreign markets.
"The Hon. Henry T. Ralney produced on tho
floor in congress evidence of the watch trust's
methods and it was published in the Congres
sional Record. The evidence he produced on
several occasions stands absolutely uncontra
dicted today. He has challenged the watch
trust representatives in congress for years to
deny his statements and none have dared reply.
In view of the fact that American watches are
being sold abroad ridiculously cheap, compared
with prices they are sold at home, it is absurd
to insert in the Payne bill these prohibitory pro
visions, thereby fixing stronger than ever upon
American jewelers and upon purchasers of
watches in this country, the power of this in
famous trust."
A REPUBLICAN WARNING
. The St. Albans (Vermont) Messenger, a re
publican paper, gives thiswarning to its paTty:i
"And the whole situation simply amounts to
this, that If out of this long-continued and earn
estly insistent popular demand for a states
manlike revision of the tariff the republican
party is to" offer the people a stone when they
have asked for bread, then the elections for
congress in 1910. and the i election for the presi
dency in 1913 will tell in unmistakable terms
how the indignant people of this country re
buke the leaders that have been faithless to their
interests. And the republican party can thank
Aldrich and his associates for its humiliation.
There need be no demagogery about such talk
as this, no appeal to prejudice, no play to the
galleries. If the events of, the past, seven or
eight years have clearly, .demonstrated anything
at all to the intelligent comprehension of the
great mass of American, yoters, it is the great
est obstacle to the triumphant Statesmanship
and wise administration of government of the
republican party has not been obstruction of
political opponents from without, but the short
sighted stubbornness and arrogant greed of tho
'interests' within."
THEY MIGHT APOLOGIZE
The Houston (Texas) Post' says: "Unfortu
nately, there is no flareback process by which
Mr. Taft can restore to T'tt Bryan the demo
cratic votes that were filched through the Bran
denburg fraud known as 'he Cleveland inter
view." i
But those republican and so-called indepen
dent newspapers whose editors stood sponsor
for the genuineness of the Brandenburg letter
might at least apologize to their readers for
their false statements.
t.
A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION
The Springfield (Mass.) Republican recently
said people laugh when the question is asked
what is a democrat?' but what is a republican?"
In its issue of .May 17 the Indianapolis News, a
republican paper, reproduced the Springfield
Kepublican's remark and answered the question,
what is a republican," in this way: "Why,
a man that lets Aldrich do his thinking."
DEMOCRATIC IDEAS
Who says that the republicans of Nebraska
fJG o beine educated up, to the democratic
Ideas? Congressma Norris is one of the lead
ers among the tariff reform republicans in tho
house, and Senator Brown is urging the adoption
of a constitutional amendment authorizing an
income tax-i-carrying out a plank in the last
democratic plajtform. The world4 does move.
THE WHITER HOUSE
,n"T fl?,"no Presided at the recent meet
ly Fle,Uled Brethren conference at Can
ton, unio. in introduninp- v nrn n,n nrm-
ference
troduce
and tiih
ixiTu tt ,Y"uae "re. is; enstiri
Whiter House of Christian Effort:".
l v
't. .
' i
. -" -u-
