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DECEMBER 17; lOO'O
danger and organized a force of beaters who
eearched every cranny of the building, and'spent
hours in the game of hide and Beek before tho
promoters of the meeting wore satisfied that tho
intruders had been cleared out.
HERE IS A GOOD story from lifo as told in
an editorial printed in the Chicago Record- -Herald:
"Several weeks ago wo called atten
tion to tho 'remarkable' action of a New York
judge in asking a number of eminent corpora
tion lawyers to agree to act occasionally as coun
sel for poor, friendless and bewildered prison
ers in criminal cases. The decline of criminal
law, frequent failures of justice, the greed and
incompetence of inferior attorneys who are 'as
signed to defend poor prisoners had combined
to prompt the court's appeal to the leaders of
the bar The appeal elicited sneering coniment
in certain quarters, but public-spirited lawyers
and editors hastened to commend it. The first
fruit of the experiment would seem to justify it
abundantly. Samuel Untermyer was assigned,
for the statutory $600 fee, to defend an Italian
woman who had been indicted for the murder of
her husband. His handling of the case was so
able, efficient and maBterly that, instead of the
conviction expected by Jerome, the jury in ten
minutes returned a verdict of acquittal. The
foreman of the jury cordially thanked the at
torney and told him that if more men of his
caliber were induced to defend poor, alien and
helpless prisoners fewer innocent persons would
suffer cruel Injustice. There was nothing techni
cal or sophistical about the Untermyer defense.
He made no attempt to defeat the law. Ho
simply endeavored to bring out the facts, to
prevent browbeating and juggling. The testi
mony established a plea of self-defense beyond
all reasonable doubt. It may be added that Mr.
Untermyer turned over his fee to the acquitted
woman, after spending about $1,000 of his own
money on the case. The practice of the criminal
law used to be deemed worthy of the greatest
lawyers, and it is woYthy of them today. There
is more money In corporation business, in civil
and commercial law, but what sort of a civiliza
tion is that which holds life and liberty cheap,
which is not interested in justice and right?
The New York judge has done well to appeal
to the traditions1 of happier legal days, and his
example should be followed in other cities. It
should also stimulate the demand for radical
legal reform in the interest of the individual
as well as of the body politic."
TO THE HUMBLE "heroes" the Omaha
World-Herald pays this fine tribute: "The
ranks of the poor and lowly furnish many
heroes. The selfishness that creeps into men's
souls when they spend their lives in the pursuit
of money and power, prevent them from re
sponding as quickly when there is a life to save,
and a life to lose, possibly, in the saving of it,
as the poor devil who has nothing else but his
life to lose. An outcast lived in an Iowa town
who had a bad name because he was shiftless,
and was generally thought to be worthless,
though no one knew anything really bad about
him. One day a fire started up in the belfry of
the town church. No one among the village
firemen ventured to go aloft and battle the
flames. Out from the crowd came a man who
climbed into the steeple and fought the fire suc
cessfully, but he breathed so much smoke and
flame rup there near the bell, that he fell to the
ground a blackened corpse. It was the village
'good for nothing.' It took a crisis to show the
fibre of his soul and reveal his character as it
was, and everybody turned out to do him honor
When they laid him in his grave. In Omaha two
men who were prisoners because of minor
offenses, and who were allowed to do the work
of 'trusties,' risked their lives in pulling an'
officer from a fierce gasoline fire. They were
at once, set free, The terrible mine disaster
at Cherry, 111., brought out its heroes, and they
were of the lowly, who digged in the bowels
of the earth and for a pittance. Among the
few who were brought up alive from that fur
nace of fire and smoke and black damp and
death, was a miner who had to be restrained
by force from going back into the mine, nearly
dead as he was, to help rescue hid comrades who
were thought to be still living. And what a
Btory is told in the diary found. on the body of
young Samuel Howard down in the drifts with
the other dead. His chief regret was that his
little brother could not escape, from the mine
so as 'to help mother when I am dead and gone.'
He scribbled . on pieces of paper ,with a lead
Pencil a heart-rending record of dayd of horror
The Commoner.
comratdeasWflUv!ntmb: ?V.0,la of 8eo,nS dd
efforts to fiinebUlhlm' ftnd of h,s fu"l0
Blmnle wnrA hIm80lf ,nnd othora- In ft low
wrw ! h r?Vcals a lovo romance that
wrings the human heart, it is one of tho laKt
IrZZ toVA th vlngMdUi aviS
rin? eMS: J1 nm dcad Give my diamond
posfofflco Rbns?n: !t ls comln at tho
donri L Soon after ho ceases to write and is
o tni?cf loro la addod t0 th0 l0e list
?h hJS5 at, havo como from tho ranks Of
the humble and tho poor."
Practical Tariff Talks
One of tho Important tariff schedules over
.which there was much debate and upon which
a groat deal of evidence was taken by tho house
committee that made the tariff related to pot
tery. In tho end, as is usually tho case, tho
potters won, and no reductions were made.
There aro two distinct classes of ordinary tablo
pottery. One Is that known as china, tho trans
lucent kind, where the finger marks can bo soon
through; the other is earthenware, tho thick,
opaque goods. There are many classes of goods
bearing different names, but tablo pottory falls
Into one or the other of these genoral classifi
cations. More than half of tho pottory mado
and sold in this country has been so highly
protected for years by cheaper cost of produc
tion in addition to the tariff that the American
potter practically has the earthenware field to
himself. Take the cheaper ware, the commoner
grades of all kinds of pottery goods, toilet, table
and the like, and the foreigner could not com
pete if it were on the free list. As a matter of
fact it carries a 25 per cent tariff, and that tax
is paid by those who can least afford it, the
masses.
There have been some unfavorable times for
the potters, but the experts say that it Is duo
to the fact that certain pottors havo developed
what is known as the "scheme" or premium trade
and also make a lot of articles to sell at 5 and
10 cents. From the nature of things these are
made in a slipshod manner and the decorations
are daubed on. Yet these grades constitute 60
per cent of the domestic production of decorat
ed ware. Big fortunes have been made in tho
business, which long ago ceased to be an in
fant Industry In America. Yet the tariff pro
tection has been rising as the Industry grew
greater. The tariff law of 17 8 4-17 D 4 carried
10 per cent, that of 1816-1842, 20 per cent;
that of 1857-1861, 24 per cent; that of 1864
1883, 40 per cent, and now for eleven, years it
has been 55-60 per cent. These figures refer
to the chinaware not the earthen ware.
The fact that this Is a prosperous industry,
a great industry, is shown by the figures. In
1890 there were 239 pottery ovens. Today
there are 747, while the output has risen from
$9,000,000 to $16,000,000. Efforts have been
made to form a combination in this manufac
ture, but as a general proposition these havo
been unsuccessful with earthenware concerns,
because of the fact that in the natural gas dis
trict the proposition has been an attractive one
for capital. Competition has been fairly brisk,
but not fierce enough to force prices down be
low the tariff barrier so as to let in foreign
goods, in the cheaper grades. In fact, they have
such a cinch on the cheaper grade market that
they export a lot of this white and yellow ware
and sell it in Canada in competition and to do
this they must sell for less than they do at
home. In effect, this 25 per cent tariff tax en
ables them to get such a price out of the masses
here who must have the ware that they can
afford to sell cheaper to the Canadian. To get
their goods into Canada they must" pay 10 per
cent more duty than the English manufacturer
with whom they compete, and they Inevitably
must be satisfied with a lower profit than at
home. The high-grade potters, having a higher
tariff protection, have been able to make a fair
ly effective combination that in effect fixes
prices through discounts.
What ill success has come to the china man
ufacturing business In the country has been
Senile the 60 per cent protection given.
Selome Jones, head of the wholesalers' associa
tion told the ways and means committee that
"the reason why earthenwaro,has succeeded and
tle production of china has failed is not cue to
tho provisions of any particular tariff, to any
dlfforonoo of market value or undervaluation,
but simply to tho physical conditions of the
country. harthonwaro requires a common clay,
loss skill Is expended in Its manufacture and a
very much lower dogroo of boat is employed
to fire i it than Is tho fact with china. That
UomcBtlc clay can not bo used for china Ik dem
onstrated by tho fact that wherever tho tnnti
ufacturo of china has boon attempted tho olay
has boon imported imported from countries
whore tho physical conditions aro such that this
class of morchandlso can bo manufactured to
advantago, Thcso reasons, however, aro only
partly responsible for tho failure of tho Ameri
can chlua producer. Tho other and by far tho
most Important reason Ib that tho American
manufacturer has not sought to produce that
quality of china which is domandod by tho
American public, for tho reason that internal
competition hns depressed prices and ho has
found it moro profitable to ongago in the pro
duction of earthenware alone." It was admit
ted by tho representatives of the pottors that
the china men did have to import part of their
clay- C. Q. D.
EDITORIALS BY COMMONER READERS
J. P. Faasett, San Francisco, Cal.I bollovo
heartily in your method of disseminating demo
cratic doctrines, and that Tho Commoner la
among tho very best of lltoraturo for that pur
pose, and I promiso you my earnest co-operation
in this endeavor. Personally, In common with
all honest democrats and good cltlzons gener
ally, I accept Mr. Bryan's proposition that plat
forms aro and must bo binding upon all candi
dates. It seems to mo that the platform of tho
party being tho only contract that the peoplo
havo with their candidates, It should bo as bind
ing as any other contract and oven much moro
so, because of tho moral obligation therein In
volved. Tho tariff views announcod by Mr.
Bryan aro a long way on tho right road and
meet, in my opinion, with tho approval of most
democrats, but in my humble judgment, tho
great democratic party should do as it has done
in tho last twelve years, assume a position upon
this great qucBtlon that can not bo confounded
or confused, and do you not think that there
is opportunity for confusion when you pay "that
tariff laws should bo levied for tho purpono of
raising revonuo and not for the imrpoBo of din
tributlng protection among special Interests?"
As a rule tho moment an orator or nowsp'aper
man who has not spent his life in the study of
economic questions begins tho discussion of
"tariff for revenue only" ho confuses tho people
In his awful endcavorB to prove that a tax Is
not a burden, and to prove that a tax for rev
onuo is not an unjuBt burden, and wherever
there is confusion thero is doubt. Why not hit
this monstrosity squarely between tho eyes and
stand out boldly and squarely for freedom and
absolute freedom In trade. That Is clean, clear
and undeniable democratic doctrine and It leaves
no room for befogging issues and misleading the
voters. Let tho democratic party stand and
stand boldly for something definite on thin sub
ject and something that can not bo miscon
strued. My feeling is that tariff for revenue only
is a compromise with those who seek special
privileges and seek to use the government and
its machinery to accomplish their own selfish
ends. Combinations and compromises ought to
bo avoided and especially by the progressive
democracy, as it has thrice gone down to defeat
through tho union of selfish interests. Let there
bo no compromise and no confusion. Give us
clear cut Issues together with the Intrepid lead
ership of Bryan, then there is hopo that this
government will bo restored to the people and
then and only then, shall we have a government
of the people, for the people, and oy the people,
and then unjust and burdensome taxation levied
upon the production of labor will have ceased
and the burden of its support will como from the
soil, the source of all values.
THE GIFTS
With pomp and show the Wiso Men brought to
her
Th'eir little gifts of gold and frankincense and
myrrh ;
And laid them grandly down amid tho hay
Before the manger where her First Born lay.
She must have thought how God's own modest
grace, , , , .. .
Was far unlike those little lords of time and
nlace
His Gift more rare than India's gold most fine,1
Lay lowly sleeping there among tho klne!
r. Warner Borst, in Co-Operation.
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