"1TITJ
4
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 3
The Commoner.
ISSUED WEEKLY.
Entered at tho PohIoHIco r.t Lincoln, Nebraska,
an oocond-cliuin tnuttur.
WlJ.MAM J. llnYAN ClIAW.KH W. MlYAH
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Nob.
thoy triad to bo statesmen and spent money to
dofoat tho suggested legislation. The people,
knowing that ovory saloon was a center of po
litical work and agitation, took a pretty solid
stand against tho greody brewers. The demo
crats mot flrBt in stato convention and adopted
a resolution declaring for township local option.
Whon tho republicans met, nothing else be
ing loft, thoy indorsed county local option. J.
Frank I-Ianly, governor of tho stato, an earnest
man -a crank, some say called the legislature
togothor, right in tho middle of the campaign
last yoar, drove a county local option bill
through tho houso and senate, and now three
fourths of Indiana is as dry as a desert. Yes
answering your inquiry, I havo said that the
browors must keop their hands out of our poli
tics. Browing is one of tho special interests
. that assumes tho function of lawmaking for its
own. bonoflt."
"I havo boon informed," I said, "that tho
saTsrSseEr' (1 yUr leCti0n t0 tUe United
"That is true. Tho democratic newspapers
?h fliSaTr nf Ind!nna fftVOml candWaT!
the files of tho nowspapors aro open to any one
and tho voters can bo seen and questioned
Forty-four domocratic members of the legS
turo openly gave mo pledges of their support--
tholr constituents required it. Forty-two votes
wore all I needed. When I seemed sure of the
nomination tho brewers suddenly manifested a
wyf ,nnTSt in l!l sItuatIon " Proposed
that tho democrats, mooting in caucus cZt
secret ballot I understood what that moant-
?JSd?5 mmbGr? of th0 Mature coSd vote
for the browors' candidate, whoever ho hnn
ponod to bo, and no one would know it BteM
men wore purchased, and the secret baiotwlnt
through. I received thirty-six votes yet tho
are forty-four mon who will make afhdavitha?
they gave mo tiioir support. I can nSt nrovo
bribery on any one, but I think I Snn ?i
names of eight men' who wci-o bough? ur "
MK. BRYAN AT PANA1HA.
The following is from tho Panama Daily Star
and Herald, issuo of January 9:
Mr. William Jennings Bryan, tho disHn
gushed Nebraska democrat, who 'ha beeT at
SWA &ft
theater was packed evorv ioAail,ovatlon' Th
The Commoner.
composed of tho most prominent people in tho
republic and many representatives of officialdom
from tho Canal Zone, and when the famous
orator made his appearance tho applause that
greeted him was long and enthusiastic. His
excellency President Obaldia and several mem
bers of tho cabinet occupied tho presidential
box, and wore interested listeners while Mr.
Bryan delivered his lecture. Tho Hon. Joseph
E. Lofovre, secretary of Fomento, was master
of ceremonies, accompanying Mr. Bryan to the
stage and presenting him to tho audience.
In introducing Mr. Bryan to tho audience, Mr.
Lefevro made the following brief, but very ex
pressive speech:
"I consider myself honored by having been
requested to introduce to this select audience
one of tho most notable contemporaneous per
sonalities: tho brilliant orator, Hon. William
Jonnings Bryan, whose name is a household
word throughout the world.
"His unquestionable merit as a public man
and the high ideals advocated by him, we Pana
manians are not called upon to judge, because
they are so intimately associated with the in
ternal politics of his own country, but I can
assure you, as an impartial observer, that al
though it would not be surprising that he may
not enjoy the rare satisfaction of seeing many
of the principles advocated by him become ac
cepted facts, and although Mr. Bryan has com
mitted the splendid error of being ahead of his
time in some of the fundamental truths which
he has championed, nevertheless, history will
inscribe the name of William Jennings Bryan
upon tho roll of honor of illustrious Americans,
giving to him the distinction which character
izes great men who, like Moses, showed the
route which others, more fortunate, follow until
the work initiated is crowned with success.
"The visit with which Mr. Bryan has favored
our isthmus, which already has been honored
with that of the undaunted and indefatigable
Theodore Roosevelt; with that of the distin
guished statesman, Elihu Root; with that of
tho first magistrate or the United States, Wil
liam Howard Taft, and with that of many other
noted Americans, has particular importance at
this time when an influential body of the sons
of the great republic are nobly working for the
mutual and better knowledge of the Intellect
ualities of North America and of those of her
southern sisters; because if it Is true that meet
ing the mon of a country is the only way one
can be able to form a just opinion of a nation,
it Is more so that by intimately knowing its
most conspicuous personalities is to tighten the
links of the heart with those of the brain and
Bpirit, and is the means of obtaining a more
complete idea of its grandeur, thereby estab
lishing this fraternity.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Hon. William
Jonnings Bryan."
Practical Tariff Talks
One of the curiosities of the Payne-Aldrich
tariff bill is contained in the marble schedule.
A tariff is supposed to be constructed for the
benefit of the manufacturers, but the only re
ductions made in the marble schedule are upon
the finished or partly finished stuff. A tariff
on manufactured marble protects, according to
the republican idea, the men who flnishthe
marble from the competition of foreign laborers
and their interests would be best subserved bv
free raw material and partly subserved bv a
substantial reduction thereon. But marble r
mains as it has been, protected by a tariff of
65 cents a cubic foot, and in that way VPB ia
to the stuff in the quarries of ' the S TmAi
cates now in possession of these rich mtaes"
These quarrymen are also manufacture"
whon an architect Includes in his RnS
that Vermont marble shall be used thi lU
Place where that can be securld 'exS Z
the Vermont Marble company ThG LJ m
hXul KE marM-"n5 3ft a
BooMmabrblemceanBboVda iVTZl V Tenn
cost of 05 ceite a cubic foot "?hila? aVerase
the amount of the tariff The ,i eXaca
which Is hold un by 1,,. S?1H?B Prtoe.
cubic foot to tuo SnSSSSSSta,4f?ri,,1-B.
necessarily a luxury its ,.!; JQme f not
for decortlonsTgenrtnS S?ETJ
tariff that gives the fortunate owners of marble
quarries absolute control ofthe market can not
be defended upon any ground. The principal
competitor of the American marble is Italy,
where large supplies are found in the Appennine
mountains, in the vicinity of Carrara. Only the
most primitive methods of handling it can be
employed, the stuff being rolled down tho moun
tains and taken on carts or boats to tile mar
kets. In one place there is an antiquated rail
road that does some service, whereas modern
machinery is employed in American quarries
for the handling of the blocks. The Carrara
marble costs laid down in -New York; $2.5& per
cubic foot, and sells for $2.70, while the Ver
mont marble brings all the way from $1.90 to
$3.40, for the same grades. It costs to produce
about 65 cents a cubic foot.
Ninety per cent of the marble work executed
in this country is upon American blocks and 10
per cent, upon the foreign. The tariff is practi
cally prohibitive, and only the fact that the
high-grade Carrara is superior and is demand
ed by architects in certain cases accounts for
the use of the small percentage that comes in.
When it is considered that the marble business
of the country foots up about $20,000000 a
year, the amount of the tax can be understood.
The tariff enables the American quaTrymen to
ask exorbitant prices for the products, and these
high prices, in turn, restrict the use of the
product. If there was a wider use of marble
more men would be employed, but the prohibi
tive, tariff gives steady employment to only about
10 per cent of the marble workers of the coun
try, and at the same time deprives the govern
ment of revenue. All this is done to give added
value to the property of the owners .of quarries.
This is not the only instance, however where
congress deliberately voted value into the lands
owned by private individuals with influence, tho
Increment being taken from the pockets of the
consumer. Tho zinc ore schedule is another
case. Zinc ore has nearly always been free, but
hereafter, the great bulk of the usable zinc will
bear a duty of $20 a ton. The only competitor
the Joplin district has is Mexico, and it is pro
, d against that competition by a freight rate
i6,l,a ton and the fact that it takes a ton
and a half of the Mexican ore to equal in smelt
ed value a ton of American ore. Under free
zinc ore the price has risen at Joplin from $14 .
a ton in 1894 to $44 a ton last year. Whenever
the home market shows signs of sagging the zinc
miners export the ore abroad for the express
ST nLCr1ftin? a shortase in the domestic
S f'f n,d US ,keep up Prices- They can
afford to do this for obvious reasons, and now
with SK? haS ?PSe nted the mine owns
with $20 a ton protection exportation for this
purpose will increase. In order to add $20 a ton
LV? ?Iuof Jhe zinc in the mmes of Amer-
hev .Lainiff;makerSere obliged t0 violate? as
they did in the marble schedule, every rule of
protection. Zinc ore at a cent a pound tariff
is 84 per cent, and the pig zinc, the readv to
use material, is protected only 20 per cent With
every improved process by manufactu? to is -an
increment of labor, more rinHni ?a 5 2
and additional duty, according To" tho protove
theory, is demanded. Yet in this case to favo?
vheerseTerS f JPlin mInes th A$
C. Q. D.'
:
MONEY
nnrT? T f MississiPPI was chosen dem
ocratic leader in the senate. Writing in t'
Follette's Magazine, Senator LalleUe Says
The selection of Money of Mississippi ' aa
Bona to minority leader is less important ban
the leadership of both house and senate by
Money of Wall Street. Monov of MiHil, ,V
dies, never resigns nnJ i VnL? V11 ?treet nQver
political relgnf CeroUTstreeU..0 ?.
MManaf
JiZz&JA'&- .Uu'aflfa.
