The Commoner.
t
6
Jurod and tho moans of tlio maimed in tlio hos-
pitals. ... . ..
Ho wrote against war, tho pitting of brother
against brother with firearms in their hands to
shoot each other down at tho command of sel
fish, brutalized rulers, and this is tho teaching,
according to Theodore Roosevelt, which is fit
only for feoblo and fantastic folk.
This attack upon tho dying Tolstoy is truly
Itoosovoltian, both in ego and object.
Over tho shoulder of this blameless and con
secrated saint, whoso sands of life are running
, fast, tho ox-president strikes as one mightily
miffed, at tho candidate of tho democracy in tho
last national election.
Tolstoy saw in Bryan tho man of peace and
for that, when votes for his self-appointed suc
cessor woro threatened, Roosevelt quickly takes
advantage of an associate editorship to lunge
with that familiar ferocity of his at one whose
roligion is to turn tho other cheek, who will
not striko back, and who is now too feeble to
do so woro ho less of a Christian. Roosevelt,
hailed everywhere as a righteous man, repays
Tolstoy for preaching peace and lovo among men
as one who "has in him certain dreadful quali
ties of tho moral pervert."
Theodore Roosevelt has here, with his pro
pensity when armed" with a shot gun, seemingly
gono hunting for big game with his reckless pen.
Tho czars, the grand duke of the beauracracy
and tho great-bellied aristocrats will hail and
cheor their Bwana Tumbo. Every puny despot
of overy decaying monarchy will receive with
ccstacy this verbal flogging of the modern
Elijah at Yasnaya Polyana. But there -ill be
no sign of assent Trom tho peasants or the
persecuted Jows of Russia, or those "feeble and
fantastic folk" here who are weary of the doc
trine of force and favoritism. It was to these
that Tolstoy appealed, the Treat brotherhood for
which ho has lived and written as one whose
code of life was based upon the fundamental
principles of Christianity.
The Outlook today stands sponsor for this
outrageous depreciation of Count Tolstoy by Its
associate editor.
It was the Outlook, however, which published
a truer estimate of him by way of Edward A.
Stealer's "Tolstoy the Man," for Steiner in his
preface says:
"Tolstoy's philosophy ip not clear to others.
Ho has a message for the world which
he intends shall drive out a civilization based
upon barbarism, and cruelty; a philosophy of
life which, as he sees it, fs fundamentally op
posed to the laws of nature, and a religion which
has reduced God to the level of a Russian mon
arch, degraded the Saviour into a magician and
tho Bible into a fetish. He means to bring to
a culture which shall be free from barbarism,
a philosophy of life which shall be in harmony
with the teachings of Jesus, and a religion which
shall answer to tho promptings of the soul."
Somewhat at variance, isn't it, this apprecia
tion with the slander the Outlook prints now.
But let us go on and see what else Steiner
finds in tho man:
"Ho discovered in the Sermon on the Mount
live laws which have become his rule for faith
and conduct, and which he believes will bring
the kingdom of God into men's hearts, and place
happiness upon the earth. The five lavs he
summarizes thus: 'Live at peace with all men
and do not regard any one as your inferior. Do
S?. J?? eauty o the bdy an occasion
for lust.' 'Every man should have only one
wife and every woman only one husband, and
they should not bo divorced for any reason'
Do not revenge yourself and do not punish be
cause you think yourself insulted or hurt Suf
fer all wrong, and do not repay evil with evil
for you are children of one Father.' 'Never
break tho peace in tho name of patriotism.' "
These are the rules which guided the life of
a man whoso writings wo aro told. are danger
Mount y0t thGy ar fFOm tho Sermon on thQ
w n5 ?eyi arVu! wlllch Inspired the peasant
life and the deathless literary work of Leo
Tolstoy in the interest of all men, "for all ye
are my brethren." y
f S-aS? nmolal 1f th0 eovemment, a veteran
of the civil war, who was borne into the court
room upon a- cot to protect his good name from
some serious accusation of President Roosevelt's
was acquitted by tho tribunal only to be made
the subject of a fresh attack by Roosevelt, who
SJSSUl!1 escape from conviction
self-sufficiency than Theodore R.oosevoU would
remember to his dying day. The aged official's
letter contained this pathetic line: "I am about
, to go soon, sir, to meet a higher and more just
Judge than you."
Leo Tolstoy doos not fight with carnal weap
ons. Wo doubt if ho would reply to the great
Lion Killer's cruel thrusts, if he were permitted
to know how the ex-president of a nation for
which he has cherished tho fondest hopes, had
treated him.
Certainly he would not be disturbed, for he
has been berated by tho high and mighty too
often for that.
Thero is only ono accuser that he has listened
to attentively, and to whoso searching reproofs
he has assented. That accuser is his own soul.
Will tho Great Hunter, with all of his prowess,
bo brave enough to admit as much? Detroit
Times.
"THE GUILTY RETAILER"
That excellent democratic newspaper, tho
Johnstown Democrat, comments with much in
terest on the republican discovery, recently pro
mulgated by Senators Aldrich, Hale, Scott,
Smoot and others in the senate, that high prices
are not the result of tariff extortion, but are di
rectly chargeable to "the guilty retailer." The
Democrat says:
"The proof that it is the unprotected retailer
who is growing rich through high prices extorted
from the consumer on articles bought dirt cheap
from the protected manufacturer is found in
tho fact that he lives in a palace, .that he spends
his winters at Palm Beach and his summers at
Newport, that he keeps a variety of automobiles
and a stable full of fine horses, that his daugh
ters are at Vassar and his sons at Yale or Har
vard, that he owns a steam yacht and travels
in a private car and that he gathers honors and
fame as the founder of libraries and universi
ties and as the giver of church organs and prizes
for heroes. Let anyone look about him. Let
him see for' himself how true this is. Do we
find the retailer in the bankruptcy court? Not
at all. It is' the protected manufacturer who
is heading straight for the poor house. It Is
he who is selling pitchers at 90 cents a dozen
which the cormorant retailer unloads upon the
honest consumer at 40 cents each. Undoubted
ly congress should Investigate this shocking busi
ness. This country can not afford to have her
glass trust, her pottery trust, her lead trust,
her lumber trust, her chemical trust, her steel
trust, her paper trust, her textile trust and all
the other benevolent organizations for the
cheapening of commodities brought into unde
served disrepute."
With what looks, we must confess, like ma
licious glee, the Democrat discusses Senator
Hale's argument that the policy of protection
has no relation to the high prices now prevail
ing in this country. It contrasts this new stand
taken by the high tariff forces with their old
claim that the highrprices for farm products
and the high wages of American labor are di
rectly and solely due to the beneficent policy
of protection. Our contemporary should bear in
mind, however, that circumstances alter cases.
When the republican paTty Is talking to the
producer, the farmer and' the laboring man,
then it claims that high tariffs make high prices
and high prices make high wages. But when
it is talking to the consumer, just now very
much in evidence, it asserts that high tariff
has nothing to do with high prices and that
the retail merchant is the guilty party. And
so it is the retailer who just now is catching
fits, and being held up by great republican
statesmen as the heartless exploiter of the
public.
The Democrat reaches this comforting con
clusion: "All this should bring immense comfort to
the burdened consumer. It is now possible for
him to walk right down to the corner grocery
or to the department store and have it out with
the man who has been robbing him. No longer
need he cherish unholy feelings toward' the
much-maligned manufacturer. The latter is in
deed an angel of light. He toils unselfishly to
produce things more cheaply under a protective
tariff wall and is defeated in his benevolent pur
pose to serve the people only by a voracious re
tailer who holds up the gentle consumer who
skins him alive. The more we think of this,
the more amazing It seems that until now the
true culprit was not suspected, even by the man-'
ufacturer."
When the pillaged consumer walks down to
tho corner grocer, to have it out with him he
may be surprised to find that fiend incarnate;
working in his shirt sleeves, his wife behind-
VOLUME 9, NUMBER 23
the counter selling prunes and weighing out
cheese, andhis son driving the delivery wagon
But he should not allow himself to be deceived
by appearances. This is only a trick of the wily
plutocrat to cover up his infamous prosperity
Really ho is rich beyond tho dreams of avarice'
If you don't believe it, ask the leaders of. "the
business man's party." Omaha World-Herald.
ESTABLISHING DEMOCRATIC NEWSPAPERS
Mr. H. C. Branch, president of the Democratic
State Editorial Association, 537 Temple Court
building, Denver, Colo., writes The Commoner
giving an outline of the work done by tho
fifty-four democratic papers of Colorado last
fall under the leadership of the Democratic
State Editorial .Association. During the cam
paign the democratic papers were increased
from fifty-four to seventy-two, and the circula
tion of the papers was largely increased. The
state committee worked in harmony with the
editorial association and as a result a large
amount of literature was circulated through
the newspapers at a less tiost; than it could have
been circulated in any .other way. Editors in
terested in the propagation of democratic truth
ought to put themselves in communication with
Mr. Branch and profit by his experience.
A FAMILIAR WARNING
Democratic newspapers and democratic ora
tors have regularly given the people a warning
which recently appeared i- an editorial printed
in the Lincoln (Neb.) News, a republican paper.
The editorial is entitled "A Suggestion" and
was as follows:
"After pondering deeply over the matter, we
have come to the conclusion that if the con
sumer desires to have any part or consideration
in tariff making, he must choose a different
period of the year in which tariff bills shall be
moulded. Last year we had a lively campaign,
at the conclusion of which we selected several
hundred gentlemen to represent us In congress
and elected legislatures which chose some thirty
senators during the winter. Last year say
about August and September would have been
the proper time to call congress in session and
pass a tariff bill. The consumer was the big
man at that time. The various candidates were
so sure that his interests should be considered
above all others that they frankly told him
so and assured him that what he needed was a1
reduction in the tariff so that the cost of living
might be lessened. Since then they have gone
down to Washington, have talked with the man
ufacturer, the producer, found him to be a very
convincing sort of a gentleman and have allowed
him to write the schedules. Distance and time
has permftted the vision of the consumer to
become shadowy, and in some cases he is treated
as a purely mythical personage. It is quite evi
dent that he is to receive little consideration
at the hands of either branch. The only way
open to the consumer, as we view it, is for him
to demand that tariff-making be confined en
tirely to the campaign season when he is some
body." . ,
BAKIN' DAY
Have you any smiles today?
Send me up a peck
Kind that reaches all the way
Round behind your neck.
Send a dozen boxes of
Best assorted cheer;
Also twenty quarts of love
Must be warm and clear.
Happy thoughts and pleasant words
Mix 'em good and strong
Kind to make you think of-birds
Burstin' into song.
'Leven bars of kindliness
Free from flaw and chill;
And two dozen packages
Of the best good-will.
Send me all the charity
You -pn rightly spare, . ;
mm , uua ui sympathy
Pizenness to care!
This is bakin' day, and I
Have a' sort of plan
For to make a tasty pie
ior my reiiow man. ;,
JohnvKend rick -Bangs -inaSuccess"
- Magazine. . ' : ,?.
i ,
aLJjvau.nj,JaUit,flHi iiU-;- ?.
