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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 1909)
iiiiiIii'iiii 1 1 ii na' mi i miiiniui' The Commoner M. WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR VOL. 9, NO. 33 Sham Battles . . . 'The time is passed for sham, battles on thoi tariff question. The only victory wo have won on the tariff in recent years was the viotory of.. 1892, when wo attacked the PRINCIPLE of PROTECTION. No real light can bo mado until a distinct line Is drawn between the opposing forces. The progressive republicans can not make, a successful fight against tho Aldrich element because both factions in the republican party claim to be protectionists. It is only a ques tion of degree with . no way of defining tho issue. So with those democrats who shy at "a tariff for revenue only;" they can not state their position without borrowing republican phraseology. "Whenever a democrat begins to defend protection he throws away his arms and joins the ranks of the non-combatants. Taxation should be for revenue only. Taxa tion of tho many for the benefit of tho few is robbery under tho form of law, whether it is Invoked to. aid tho manufacturers of the east or tho producers of raw material in the west and south. Aside from the objections made to the prin ciple of protection it must be remembered that comparatively few can be benefited by a pro tective tariff. A protective tariff that would distribute its benefits . among all would be of rib benefit, to any one. To benefit those for whom It is made, a protective tariff must hurt the. rest of the- podfrte. ' - The democratic party must take the part of the WHOLE PEOPLE and challenge tfte repub licans-: standpatters and progressives alike to- aeienu me pimecuvje principle. Tariff reform by. ttio f rierids. of protection has turned out to be a fraud tariff reform. by pro-, tectlonist democrats would be just as disappoint-.' ihg. Tariff reform by the friends of the tariff Is, Impossible; tariff reform by the enemies of high tariff is not only reasonable, but necessary. . Now for a real fight between the tax payers and the tax eaters. BIIGHT ANSWER DOLLIVER It is officially announced that President Taft on his tour "in the west will defend the tariff act as a sincere effort to comply with the party platform and campaign promises." What else, forsooth, did any sane person expect? That he would denounce it after signing it? Repudiate It after helping to make it? Join the democratic party after going through with the republican party his party? Confess fault by keeping mum? Queer notions some people seem to have of Taft, but Taft never entertained them for a moment. Taft "will defend the tariff act," and InferentiaUy himself, against insurgent and CONTENTS ;V SHAM BATTLES STEREOTYPED NEWS ."WE PAY THE TAX" RICH-' COAL LANDS AT STAKE THE STORY OF PINCHOT'S FIGHT 7 . EDUCATIONAL SERIES WHY WE NEED AN INCOME TAX INCOME TAX EXCUSES CHICKENS OF MARCUS A. MARKS COME HOME TO ROOST LEGAL HONESTY WHEN BRISBANE ANSWERED HARVEY FULL DINNER PAIL ITEM CURRENT TOPICS LETTERS FROM CHE PEOPLE HOME DEPARTMENT WHETHER COMMOH OR NT ;news of the week Lincoln, Nebraska, August 27, 1909 Whole Number 449 0 .. , TRUST MAGNATES IN THE SADDLE 0 0 E. B. Willis, Erie, Pennsylvania. . 0. () , President Roosevelt, Cannon and Aid- rich gave Morgan and Rockefeller the . Tennessee Coal and Iron company. He also gave them tho Aldrich. currency measure, and then was ordered to retire 0 and rest until 1912. Now Taft, Cannon and Aldrich come along and give them tho water power of tho country, and doubled the duties on everything they have to sell. What next will they get when this old friend, Roosevelt, gets back again? Taft, Cannon and Aldrich will fix tho permanent currency bill for them this fall, and Taft will appoint a tariff commission to suit the interests and wind up his term by making that commission permanent. Then God help tho people while the titlqd heirs of this crowd sit on thoir thrones over in Europe and say to tho dear people, what are you going to do about it? The millionaires who live in this country dare not own titles, but are buying them for their children, who will inherit their wealth when they die. . 0 other hostile assault and misrepresentation. Sioux City (Iowa) Journal, Rep. 'Ho might at .least undertake to answer the charges made by tho Sioux CJty Journal's favor ite senator, Dolllvcr. Senator Dolliver charged that tariff revision as it is represented in the Aldrich-Payno bill is a fraud. Ho said that tho American people "are being duped with humbug' and misrepresentation." The president might at least undertake to say something with respect to Senator Doll Ivor's charges. "WE PAY THE TAX" There is more fraud, deception and graft in the wool and woolen schedule than in any other part of the tariff law. On the theory that woolen goods are ALL WOOL the manufacturers de mand and secured a compensatory duty equal to all they would have to pay if all their ma terial was foreign wool. As long as we con cedo that a wool grower is entitled to protec tion we can not oppose the protective principle elsewhere. Now is tho time for those who PAY the tax to get together and demand "free wool and cheaper clothing." If the farmers who raise sheep are willing to stand with tho manufactur ers in order to retain the tax on wool let them organize "We Get tho Tax" clubs so that tho public will know when they advocate tbe pro tective system. If those who PAY the tax would make a business of politics as those do who get the tax, it would not take long to re duce the tariff. Stereotyped News Thoro is an itom of news which appears so constantly that it might almost be stereotyped with a blank left for tho names of tho parties. It Is the itom that tolls of tho killing of a woman by a man whom tho woman rojected as a suitor. Ono is a Dartmouth Collogo graduate who kills a senior of Smith College and then commlta suicide. Such cases can only bo explained on tho ground of inordinate selfishness and a fail ure to take hold of a propor conception of lifo. The man who denies to a woman tho right to freely choone her life companion puts his own happiness, supposed happiness, above tho happi ness of tho ono whom ho would marry, but It must bo rather supposed happiness than real, for no man can hope to bo happy with a wlfo who does not lovo him or loves him so llttio that she does not desire to marry him. This refusal to consider tho woman's wishes convicts the man of being an unfit suitor. By his net ho confesses that Hid lady whom lie loved had measured him at his true value, for he proves himself unfit when ho refuses to admit her right to decide upon her own future. Then what shall we say of tho Ideal of a man who -can not see enough in life worth living for if ono who does not love hlrn refuses to marry him. Without considering the fiendish purpose and tho criminal intent that lie back of murder, wo can not but deplore the failure of a collega to Insplro the men with higher .ideals. If- the college "graduate who added tho taking of hlu own life to tho crime of, murder had learned that lifo was to be measured by what wo put into the world .rather than by what wo took out of It, ho would not have had his heart so cantered run.qn that wlilch to him seemed happiness. Hit plans would have Included so much of useful ness and service that he could have found in hfg work some solution for his disappointment in life. Our schools do not lo their work well il they do not succeed in putting a noble purpose behind each trained mind. An educated brain without a high conception of life to guide it is like a great ship without a rudder. Tho heart development must keep pace with tho develop ment of tho mind or the lifo will be a failure. BANKRUPT Senator Cummins says that tho republican party is not a bankrupt and that ho objects to paying its tariff reform promises off at ten cents on the dollar. If the senator will examine tho bill closely, he will find that it is a' worse failure than ho supposed. There are no assets at all and the consumers havo to pay tho expenses of the receivership. WELCOME The Aldrich bunch of senators is being wel comed home by tho representatives of tho spe cial interests while the progressive republicans are being welcomed by the rank and file. This throws some light on the division in tho repub lican paTty. PERSONAL OPINION? The language employed by Justice Brewer in denouncing the Income tax raises the suspicion, tliat his vote against the 'income tax, when it..' was before the court, was the expression of- a personal opinion rather -than a judicial decision. NEELS A THOROUGH STIRRING Newspaper dispatches a. y that representa tives of the Taft administration exerted their efforts to. keej) down any controversy between Secretary of tho Interior Ballinger and GIfford PInchot at the trans-Mississippi congress In ses sion at Denver. It was said that tho administra tion hoped to avoid any of tho "rancor" that was displayed at Seattle. As a result Secretary Ballinger did not at tend tho trans-Mississippi congress. The administration shou.d not undertako to stifle this controversy. On the contrary, if Its own hands are clean, It fhould encourage tho most vigorous Investigation. Sufficient revela tions have already been made to justify the sus picion that there is something wrong with tho management of the interior department, and that a mighty scandal with respect to the dis position of public lands has been covered up. Better investigate your subordinates, Mr. Taft! Better look Into that big land grab! BUILDING What builds the nation's pillars high And its foundations strong? What makes it mighty to defy The foes that 'round It throng? Not gold, but only men can mako A people great and strong; Men who, for truth and honor's sake, Stand fast and suffer long. Brave men who work while others sleep, Who dar.e while others fly They build a nation's pillars deep And lift them to the sky. Emerson, U-M,r A.l " x ..