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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1910)
r-j-j-gjij xf ij-v r The Commoner. VOLUME 10, NUMBER- 3 2 Christian, will fool ho deeply interested In his brother's wolfaro that ho will paraphrase the langungo of tho apostle, and declare that If drinking makolh hlit brother to offend, ho will not drink. And, If ono Is resolved not to drink, tho signing of tho plodgo 1b an open acknowl edgment of the fact, Informs a larger number of peoplo, and extends tho influence of tho example It Is hardly nocoHHary to present to tho read ers of tho Christian Endeavor World tho argu ments in favor of total abstlnonco. Tho sign ing of tho pledge Is recommended on tho theory that total abstlnonco Is not only recognized as dcsirablo, but Is resolved upon. If It woro necessary to say anything in favor of tho non uso of intoxicating liquors as a beverage, I would suggest two roasons In addition to tho reason based upon man's duty to llvo so as to discourago tho formation of habits by others that may prove demoralizing. I would not say that tho taking of a glass of liquor as a bovorago is necessarily a sin, but that it is unwise. An international congress hold at London last July, In which twenty-flvo nations participated, declared tho use of alcohol Injurious to tho race; and this conclusion will hardly bo disputed except by those who find a pocunlary profit in cultivating an nppotlto for strong drink. Drinking Is an oxponsivo habit, and the monoy oxponded on liquor could bo expended moro profitably op other things. Ono is ap palled at tho nation's bill for whiskey, beer, and wlno. Monoy is not only expended for that which satisfloth not, but for that which is likely to leavo tho person tho worso for tho drinking. Even modorato drinking brings no roal benefit to tho drinker to cpmparo in value with tho monoy oxponded. But oven if ono could afford to spend money on liquor If any ono can under any circum stances afford to uso monoy in such a way there Is a clangor that ought to restrain a cau tious and prudent porson; namely, that tho habit grows, Imperceptibly, it is true, but sure ly Tho ranks of tho drunkards aro replenished from tho ranks of tho modorato drinkers, and all of those who at last reached tho point where thoy woro unablo to withstand tho temptation bogan drinking with entire confidence in their ability to control tholr appotlto. No ono who has ovor watched a young man go down tho time-worn path from tippling to tho gutter can fall to understand tho great risk that one takes when ho begins to use liquor at all. Why take tho risk? What advantage Ib to bo gained? Whon a fireman loses his life in an attempt to Bavo tho Inmates of a building, we call him a hero. We recognize his business as hazardous, but it is a hazard that ho takes for tho benofit of othors. Tho man who risks bolng consumed by a burning appetite takes tho risk unnecessarily and without recompense. No horo's crown rowards his life; there aro no rescued ones to sing his praises. If wo only recognized that tho tragedy of a wasted life is even moro pathotic than death in a conflagra tion, a moro earnest appeal would bo made to tho young to bowaro of tho cup. That tho liquor traffic is the cause of un speakable woo will not bo questioned. How to deal with the subject has interested tho thoughtful, the sympathetic, and the patriotic In all ages. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to tho success of regulation from with out no one can question tho success of that mS2od of regulatlon wnlc 1(cks the door from within. The strongest advocate of personal liberty must admit man's right to uso that per sonal liberty to ; refuse to touch, taste, or handle tho most rabid opponent of regulation wfll confess that a man not only may, but can so regulate his own lifo as to reduce tho demand for liquor to tho extent of one man's consump tion; no matter How bitterly opposed a man may bo to prohibition in theory or in practice ho can not deny that a man can absolutely prohibit corneT 8 far QS ho "meoW con- cJinl VGry ?lft(1 thnt th0 Christian Endeavor Sop oty has taken up the work of urging total abstinence. There is no doubt tlmf tL A ganizod effort that the society wi Lw will result in securing hunSs of thousand ? If not millions, of sicnors- nnri "l .UIOUSands, vory perceptible aeSTi,, " 'e toUl'SSSJI oE liquor consumed, ami a very coi umJm ,, o Vec0rr tt Sr2 ecouraBO total ab&noSS? ZT , .ft, t lilmsolt; tho moment ho become ,, 1 1 ln,ks . tho banner of total abstinence his fl,.U,'S15'' comes a factor ,n tho spV'S 'emperaVcoT Success to tho Christian Endeavor Society in all its branches in the laudable effort to rescue tho country from the evils of intemperance through tho appeal that is being made to the hearts and the consciences of the young people of tho nation. W. J. BRYAN. ANOTHER FAKE The following dispatch appeared in the Cin cinnati Enquirer and other newspapers: "Omaha, Neb., January 17. William J. Bryan will be a candidate for president in 1912. Tho announcement was made this afternoon by the Omaha Bee, with the explanation that the statement is attributed to Richard L. Metcalfe, editor of Mr. Bryan's Commoner. The state ment is further made that the democratic lead ers in Nebraska are being called to The Com moner office and told the news, with the order that they get out and work for 'his nomination. Under no circumstances will Mr. Bryan be a candidate for the United States senate, is an other announcement. It is said he believes that this state will go democratic at the next election and that he would be the natural choice of the party for United States senator, but that he fears that this might injure his chances in the next national campaign." There is no truth whatever in this statement. It is a raw, unadulterated fake. MMR. BRYAN'S GREATEST SPEECH" Mr. Bryan was in Havana' last week on his way to South America, and at a dinner in his honor given by the American minister he ad dressed many of the leading Cuban public men. It was the best speech Mr. Bryan has ever de livered. It was the best because it was the truest and at the same time the most needed by his audience. No other American could have said the same thing with equal force, because no other American could have embodied in his own person so pointed an illustration of tho truth which the speech conveyed. Mr. Bryan said: "Resort to violence is always deplorable, and will, I think, become less frequent as civiliza tion advances. As man rises in intelligence and morals reason will mpre and more be sub stituted for force and violence in the settle ment of difficulties. The day will come when tho world will see the folly of the doctrine that you can justly settle a difference of opinion by shooting a man who may differ 'wfth you. , There 13 a growing acceptance of. representative gov ernment, and a fundamental doctrine of repre sentative government is acquiescence in the will of the majority. That was the doctrine taught by Jefferson, the greatest exponent of represent ative government who " ever lived, and it is necessary to the existence of all re publics. You will recognize my right to em phasize this doctrine, for I have three times met defeat when supported by more than six million voters, but I congratulated my opponent on each occasion and had any attempt been made to deprive him of his victory no one would have supported him more loyally than I " All Latin America' should hear that excellent doctrine preached by so distinguished a victim of majority rule. If Mr. Bryan could repeat the speech, in substance, in every revolution- nfested capital south of 30 degrees north laS- hh WqU d ?etne greatest service of -i, e,TS?ringfield (Mass- Republican. The best speech Mr. Bryan ever delivered " wiLhSPnngfield RePublica lls the add?ess which the commoner delivered at Havana last week on his way to South America .It S hteh praise to give to this speech first rank among P Se isesXr " " Of one little campaign address delivered in n s elSwir e1 aJ5 were denying h?m Credit Tor "tifem "wfffl8 thought in his mind he hepin to Si'iii- is of midwestern farmers the old in audIence Joseph and his brethren Bibl Story of artMrplaBy7nagn octllV t knew and loved tho story and trSl aud e,nce by a fine inference that wh?n Sf U eV?ent Joseph he spoke of himqrff w? i?1 Spoke of had been rejected bv h L w,toId h?w JosePh thrown him off got along very well without him during the seven yeaTS of plenty. But when famine came things were different. The contemptuous brothers were forced to turn for food to the man they had rejected. In their hour of need they went down into Egypt to Joseph, and "Joseph had the corn!" Even the jaded newspaper men present jumped to their feet as the immense crowd "came up" to this climax. It is their testimony that the parable explained itself to the listening thousands at the exact instant that Mr. Bryan wished, and that the dramatic effect was abso lutely overwhelming. Chicago Evening Post. Afraid of the Truth Afraid of the Light Some curious things happened at Washington with respect to the investigation of Secretary' of the Interior Ballinger. One Associated Press dispatch from Washington tells part of the story in this way: Washington, D. C, January 18. A new and decidedly interesting turn was given to the 'in surgent" movement in the house today, when Representatives Hayes of California, Murdock of Kansas, and Gardner of Massachusetts, has tened to the White House to tell the president in effect that they were afraid they had been "used" by the democrats in the matter of the Ballinger-Pinchot investigating committee, and that the democrats were taking advantage .of the opportunity to put two of their most parti san members on the committee for the purpose of making political capital out of the affair. Mr. Hayes told the president that while he was an insurgent, he did not intend to be placed in the position of helping the democrats to "throw mud at a republican administration." This, he was afraid, was going to happen unless some means of changing the democratic selec tions for the investigating committee could be devised. Messrs. James of Kentucky and Rainey of Illinois were selected by the democratic caucus for appointment under the action of the insurgent-democratic combination, which took the power of appointing the committee away from the speaker. , jolu...,. ,.-. . ,:;,. Messrs. Murdock and Gardner reiterated much that Mr. Hayes had said, and admitted they -did not see exactly how they were going to get, out of the difficulty. The republican caucus met on the evening of January 19. The democratic caucus had chosen, as the democratic members of the in vestigating committee, James, of Kentucky and Rainey of Illinois. The republican caucus in sisted upon nominating all of the members and they finally voted to reject Rainey and substi tuted for him Lloyd of Missouri. After this result was reached Cooper, Lenroot and Carey of Wisconsin, and Davis and Lindburgh of Min- -nesota bolted the caucus. Following are extracts from the Associated Press report of the repub lican caucus: - They Spoke for Taft Several speeches, strong objections to both James and Rainey were voiced, the obiectors claiming to express the views of President Taft! There was no objection to either of them ner- sonally, but it was urged, especially Sa?nst Rainey, that their alleged extreme partlsanshin would unfit them for a judicial investigation P Against Rainey was cited activity in "stir ?iXHP, truble'" the. republican admin s S?n ln 1Panama canal matters. The matter will probably come up in the house, and & Is expected that the democrats to a man will vote to repudiate the republican caucus action Tn cidontally there is the questioS which can St be answered tonight, whether Mr. Lloyd will consent to serve. After the vote nominal The four republicans had been taken, resul tfnu in iTortXr aPPrV aeBvote was ordered on the democratic members of tho committee. At this juncture Mr. Cooper arose 52? nfeMredi hat he was authorized by a num! LwhIs co leaeues to say that they were on- cfcanco have they agains? men Hlce'St or olSJ iwl t2rin