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The Commoner.
- WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
I
VOL. 9, NO. 47
Lincoln, Nebraska, December 3, 1909
Whole Number 463
77?e Central Bank
Tho people have another fight Ahead. The
financiers have decided that they can coerce con
gress into creating a central bank to mauago
the government's money matters, and they are
going to make the effort. Possibly the presi
dents advocacy of it may explain the sudden
collapse of Wall Street's opposition to Mr.
Tafts nomination. At any rate the Napoleons
of finance are not willing to risk delaythe
next congress may bo democratic. And then
there will be changes in the senate and those
are likely to lessen Wall Street's control of that
body. Now is the time, they think, and the
acquiescence of a majority of the republicans
in the Aldrich plan leads them to believe that
the rank and file of the republican . party will
tolerate anything. But will they?
, The Standard Oil trust lost its tariff on oil
and the steel trust came near losing Its tariff
on Iron ore. The new telegraph-telephone mer
ger is giving the people a shock, and the de
mand for a ship subsidy is making tliem sit
up and take notice. This may not, after all,
be an opportune time to launch a gigantic
bank monopoly.
Senator. Aldrich has had his swing around. tho
circle and met the local financiers who hope to
represent the bank in their respective communi
ties, but what. about those who will be left out
in the cold?
A central bank does not fit into our Institu
fW 1 a foreign idea and ,cAn not bo
brought into harmony with our instincts and
business methods. It would destroy-all inde
pendence in the banking world. In Canada they
have branch, banks but they have a number of
them and competition sUll exists, but even there
the business man suffers an inconvenience in
having to have his paper passed upon by an out
sider and the depositor runs the risk of having
his money used to build up some other commu
nity. With a great central bank all competi
tors would become timid lackeys, afraid to
offend, to say or do anything that would dis
please the officials of the big bank. With a
great central" bank the money would be gath
ered up at the extremities and poured into the
commercial centers. The depositors would soon
find the interest reduced on deposits and the
bank would increase its profits from both de
positor and borrower, for there would be no
competitor who would dare to pay more or
charge less than the central bank. Not only
would such a central bank dominate but it
would control politics as well. Nick Biddell
told President Jackson that it could elect or
defeat presidential candidates and the hero of
New Orleans replied with an oath that if it
could it had' more power than it ought to have
CONTENTS
THE CENTRAL BANK
ANOTHER STEP BACKWARD
:. DAVID A. DE ARMOND
REFORM IN INDIA
, PROBE THE SUGAR SCANDAL
GETTING DOWN RAPIDLY A 1901 RE
MINDER CARNEGIE FUND A MENACE
LLOYD GEORGE A LEADER
PRACTICAL TARIFF TALKS
SENATOR ALDRICH'S WESTERN TRIP
"STANDPATISM" WINS
REPUBLICAN LEADERS BY ROBERT M.
LAFOLLETE
CURRENT TOPICS
- HOME DEPARTMENT
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
NEWS OF .THE WEEK
anfl more than he wu willing for it jo retain.
If a central bank is created it is oly a ques
tion of time when it tyranny will become un
bearable. But why invito such a condition?
Now is the time to fight the central bank
Idea; every newspaper should warn its readers:
every voter should writo to his senators and
member of congress protesting against tho wholo
scheme. The smaller b'anks should array
themselves against it. The advocates of tho
central bank are using the corporation papers
to mislead the reading public; it is high tlmo
that the patriotic forces were aroused to tho
danger. The plans of tho bank monopoly must
be defeated.
WHY NOT TAPT AND ALDRICH?
Has it occurred to you that "Taft and Aid
rich" are likely to head the' republican ticket in
the next campaign? Mr. Taft's endorsement of
Mr. Aldrlch's statesmanship, his pralso of tho
Aldrich bill as the best tariff bill we have over
had; Senator Aldrlch's tour through tho west
and the laudatory comments made by tho cor
poration press on tho senator all theso point
to a plan. New England has not had a position
on tho republican national ticket for some time,
although she has supported tho ticket with great
constancy; is it not tlmo to recognize her?
Senator .Aldrich has announced that ho will
not be a candidate for tho senate again. What
is more natural than that ho should aspiro to
be boss of .the senate In name as ho haB for
years been in fact, and then?. .
Why not Taft and Aldrich in 1912?- And ,if
the people will swoiiun mm men Aiancn. and
cannon in 191G. What do the progressives say
to that? v
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THANKS GJVING TO TilE G. O. P.
Thanksgiving table supplies consisting
of a nine-pound turkey, plum pudding
for four, mincemeat for three pies, cel
ery, parsley, quart of cranberries, pound
of mixed nuts and three pounds of sweet
potatoes were sold in Chicago ten years
ago yesterday for $1.95. Yesterday pre
cisely the same supplies cost $4.25. If
this difference is a little above tho aver
age, it is still safe to assume that the
prices of these and similar articles have
practically doubled in the last ten years.
The department of commerce and labor
at Washington found a year ago that tho
increase in tho cost of living in ten years
had been 49 per cent.
Meanwhile the increase in wages has
been small and the increase in salaries
has been still smaller. And since tho in
crease in pay has not been nearly so
large as tho increase in the cost of living,
how have the masses adapted themselves
to the new situation? The answer Is
plain. They have simply and necessar
ily lowered their standards of living.
' The matter, of income is, after all, meas
ured.by what the income will buy, not
by its definition in dollars and cents.
The Incomes of the masses will not be
gin to purchase now what they did ten
years ago, nor what they did two years
ago; but unless there is a check in tho
encroachments of organized greed, they
still purchase more than they will here
after, t
The greatest of all factors In the
increase of the cost of living is the pro
tective tariff. The protective tariff, In
its extreme abuses, Is also the chief
cause of the concentration of wealth.
And aside from the general suffering
that arises from the inequitable distribu
tion of wealth through the tariff protect
ed trusts and the conditions they
create, this, concentration of wealth Is
the greatest of all menaces to the politi
cal security of the nation. Kansas City
Times (Rep.)
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Another Step Backward
There seems to be no limit to the reactionary
policies of the present administration. The
powor companies which seek perpetual franchises
aro rolylng on tho favor of Secretary Balllngor;
tho financiers who want a central bank have
secured tho endorsement of President Taft, as
havo also tho ship owners who want a subsidy.
And now comes Attorney General Wickorsham
and outlines a schomo for turning ovor to the
control of tho general govommont all corpora
tions doing an lntorstato business. Ho pro
poses national incorporation and adds that if
such a law demonstrates its valuo It may bo wise
ultimately to PROHIBIT STATE CORPORA
TIONS FROM ENGAGING IN INTERSTATE
COMMERCE.
This is tho most gigantic stop yot proposed
in tho direction of centralization. That this
now schomo is not advanced in tho interest of
tho peoplo but in tho intorest of tho corpora
tions Is evident from Mr. Wickersham's state
ment that tho government "must provide means
of enabling co-operatlvo enterprises to engago
freely In lntorstato and foreign commorco with
out Intorferenco by state action, which fettors,
confines and destroys tho possibility of such free
pursuit." To prevent "INTERFERENCE BY
STATE ACTION" this Is tho wholo purposo of
national incorporation.
Suroly tho democrats can presont a united
PirnStn4LtJL5l0na0 t0 tuo authority ox
ercisecT oy tno state. "--- - KVV --
Thp democratic plan Is to ADD fcdoral regu
lation to state regulatlojuJMLtyJIxtkWJckershara
proposes to SUBSTITUTE federal regulation, for
stato regulation. The democratic plan of re
quiring a fodoral license, rot for nil corpora
tions but for large ones, preserves state au
thority and supplements it with federal super
vision, but tho administration's plan contem
plates the abolition of stato regulation entirely.
The predatory corporations seem to prefer to
risk an Aldrlch-Cannon kind of federal regula
tion to regulation by tho peoplo through their
state legislatures.
DAVID A. DE ARMOND
Tho death of Congressman Do Armond re
moves from public life a statesman of high rank,
a conscientious public servant and a democrat
in the broadest sense of the term. Ho had
great natural ability and to this ho added care
ful training and a wealth of experience. Ho
was honest in forming an opinion and fearless
In expressing. His record will bear scrutiny
for his every vote and speech reflected tho senti
ment of his constituents. His death is a severe
loss to the party in Missouri and the west. His
placo will bo difficult to fill.
REFORM IN INDIA
Great Britain is taking a very Important step
in tho government of India. She Is recogniz
ing the right of the Indian people to a voice In
their own government a commendable act al
ready too long delayed. The people, acting In
various groups, religious and otherwise, are to
select representatives In the general and pro
vincial councils, and while Great Britain retains
a veto power, as In Canada, Australia and New
Zealand, that veto Is not likely to be used very
often.
Great Britain, as well as India, Is to be con
gratulated upon this momentous reform. Tho
world Is moving m some places slowly but
everywhere to some extent toward self govern
ment and our nation Is leading the way.
PHILOSOPHY
If thero's no sun, I still can havo the moon;
If there's no moon, the stars my needs suffice;
And if they fail, I have my evening lamp;
Or lampless, there's ray trusty tallow dip;
And If the dip goes out, my couch remains
Where I may sleep and dream there's light again.
Blanche Gray, In Harper's Weekly.
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