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The Commoner.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
VOL. 10, NO. 16
Lincoln, Nebraska, April 29, 1910
Railways on the Bench
Below will be found a protest recently sent
by the Nebraska railway commission to Presi
dent Taft in regard to the appointment of judges
to the supreme bench. So far as our informa
tion goes, this is the first protest of the kind
that has been filed with any president by any
official body, but it is so opportune that The
Commoner is glad to give prominenco'to it. Here
is the protest over the signatures of Messrs.
Clark, Winnett and Cowgill, the three members
of the Nebraska railway commission, an elective
body:
"Whereas, A vacancy has occurred in tho
supreme court of the United States, through s
the death of the Hon. David J. Brewer; and
"Whereas, The legislatures and commissions
of the states and the nation are at present en
gaged in a conscientious and honest effort to
properly solve the momentous questions involved
in the proper and reasonable regulation of the
rates and services of common carriers, and par
ticularly the railroads; and
"Whereas, The final determination of these
t questions rests with the supreme court of the
United1' States; and
"Whereas, WVbelieve that a man whose life's
. work and legal training have been devoted to
the defense or advocacy of railway interests,
though he be gifted with talents of the highest
order, and inibued with the loftiest sentiments
of patriotism, can not assume the duties -and
functions of a justice of the supreme court of
. theUnitedf States 'with a mind entirely free from
the. pfe3u9lces, beliefs- and thought common to
thbse who regard a large" part, if not all the
recent efforts of the constituted authorities to
regulate the rates and services of common-carriers
as ill-advised, hasty and retaliatory as
saults upon what they assume to be vested
rights; and
"Whereas, We believe that there are men of
unquestioned legal ability and integrity adorn
ing the supreme courts of the various states of
the nation, and in the legal profession, who can
assume the functions and duties of a justice of
the supreme court of the United States with
minds free from those prejudices and beliefs
which are naturally acquired by one whose life's
work is devoted to defending and safeguard
ing railroad interests;
"Be it Therefore Resolved by the members of
the Nebraska state railway commission that,
considering the momentous questions involving
the regulation and control of common carriers,
which must be finally decided by the supreme
court of the United States, we earnestly petition
the president of the United States that in the ap
pointment of nien to the federal supreme court,
those only should be appointed whose training
and association render it certain that they will
assume the duties of that office unbiased by '
those environments which, consciously or un
consciously, influence the judgment and become
CONTENTS
RAILWAYS ON THE BENCH
A LOOK AHEAD
THE ZENITH REPUBLIC
BUT WHY HIGHER AND HIGHER?
DISCOVERING AN IDEA
GENESIS OF THE TAFT -NATIONAL IN
CORPORATION BILL
PRACTICAL TARIFF TALKS
- A HEART TO HEART TALK
CURRENT TOPICS
HOME DEPARTMENT
WHETHER COMMON OR NOT
NEWS OF THE WEEK
WASHINGTON NEWS
SOCIALIST PLANS IN MILWAUKEE
MR. BRYAN IN SOUTH AMERICA
pbtential factors In controlling tho actions of
all men.
"Dated at Lincoln, Nebraska, this 18th day
of April, 1910.
H. T. CLARKE,
H. J. WINNETT,
W. H. COWGILL.
Messrs. Clarke and Winnett are republicans;
Mr. Cowgill is a democrat, but they join in utter
ing a warning which ought to be heard in tho
White House and which ought to bo taken up
and reiterated by the railway commissions of
every state. The officials who are entrusted
with the enforcement of regulations against tho
railroads are in a position to know how difficult
it is for a judge to be impartial" in a case where
he has a bias in favor of the railroad side, and
one only needs to know human nature to know
that it is difficult, if not impossible, for a man
to erase from his mind the impression made by
long years of service as a railway attorney. Ad
mitting the possibility of absolute fairness in
exceptional cases, still it must be remembered
that rules are not made for exceptions but to
meet the general situation.
The request presented to tho president is
couched in respectful language, but it presents
an unanswerable argument. No one who is not
himself blinded by a salary drawn from a cor
poration will attempt to answer tho logic of tho
petition. The people of Nebraska, speaking
through their railway commission, are acting
within their rights when they ask that only
those shall be appointed to the federal bench
"whoso training and association render it cer
tain that they will assume the duties of that
office unbiased by those environments which
consciouslE.,or unQonsciously Influence '-the judg
ment and bec6rn6ttSifttctc(rin controlling
tho actions of rdeu," -
Nebraska has done her duty in thte matter;
now let other states do as well, and it may be
possible to interrupt tho process by which tho
federal bench has been consciously or uncon
sciously filled with men "by those environ
ments" which make it difficult for them to see
tho people's side of a' railway controversy.
A LOOK AHEAD .
It is always unsafe to guess what exPreal
dent Roosevelt will do at any future time or
under any set of circumstances the law for
each day being announced that day, and some
times late in the afternoon. But there are cer
tain signs which, in the case of most men,
would indicate that Mr. Roosevelt will return
more of an insurgent than a standpatter.
First the Outlook, AFTER ITS REPRESENT
ATIVE HAD MET MR. ROOSEVELT AT
KARTOUM, contained two significant editorials,
one praising young Garfield, an insurgent, and
the other weighing the Taft administration and
severely criticising certain phases of it. Second,
He received Pinchot cordially and accepted his
Invitation to speak at' the conservation con
vention. Third, The stenographer to whom ho dictated
fifty-five letters gained the impression that he
would make things interesting on his return.
Fourth, Senator Root goes to Europe to meet
him after a long conference with President Taft.
Fifth, So far as is known he is not in corre
spondence with the president, whom he nom
inated and elected.
Whole Number 484
. MORE TO FOLLOW
Senator Aldrich has announced his retirement
from the senate (amid loud and long continued
applause). Now, if the Aldrich democrats will
follow his example, and retire the democratic
party will have as much reason to rejoice as
the republican party has!
Mr, Bryan extends greetings to the readers
of The Commoner, and assures them that he
Is back home in good health and in fighting
trim. The trip to Panama, South America and
Porto Rico was a most pleasant and Instructive
one.
- The Zenith Republic
Bolivia, tho highest republic In tho world, Is
tho least visited of tho countries of South
America. Tho nation has no sea-coast, Chili
having, somo thirty years ago, taken by forco
of arms tho llttlo strip of land that connected
Bolivia with tho Pacific. In colonial days Bo
livia was galled Upper Peru, and tho title was
appropriate, for her principal conters of popu
lation aro from twelve to thirteen thousand feet
abovo tho ocean level.
Until within a few months her cities havo
been without railroads, and tho foot of the tour
ist has seldom been set upon her soil; Her nom
inal capital, Sucre, is still more than two hun
dred miles from steam roads, and La Paz, tho
real seat of government (two and a third miles
above tho sea) has only recently been connected
by railroad with the outside world.
But tho day of isolation is past; two roads
now carry passengers Into tho interior, others
aro building and still others are planned.
The Peruvian route leaves tho Pacific at Mol
lendo, passes through Arequfpa and at Puno
connects with a boat lino on Lake Titicaca,
which, in turn, connects with tho La Paz rail
road at Guaqui.
Titicaca, which Is on the boundary lino be
tween Peru and Bolivia, is said to be the highest
navigated lake in tho world. It is a magnificent
body of water one hundred and seventy miles
long by thirty wide and in some places fifteen
hundred feet deep. Mountalr. peaks hem It in
on all sides and give It a basin of Its own. Tho
foot ,111118 that rise up from tho lake are ter
racecj'Jas highj-as. cultivation can bo carried
themany shaped fields reraindjnj4ajpfrazy
quilt-, r .. ,,..
This lake Is the center of a busy commerce
which taxes the capacity of several steamers, a
number of small boats, and Innumerable balsas
canoes and sail boats made of reeds. Tho first
steamer employed upon the lake was brought
up in parts on donkeys, forty years ago; in 1905,
the Inca a steql vessel, two hundred and
seventy feet long, thirty feet wide, and drawing
eleven feet, was brought up by tho railroad. It
was built in Great Britain and was put to
gether there and then taken apart and shipped
to Mollendo.
The second, or Chilian route to La Paz, leaves
the ocean at Antofagasta and runs northeast
through Uyuni and Oruro and is about six hun
dred miles long. This road has a through train
of sleepers onco a week, and it takes two days
to make the trip.
In going to Bolivia the tourist should enter
by one route and leave by the other. The first
enables him to see Lako Titicaca and the very
interesting sand dunes between Mollendo and
Arequipa described in a former letter, and Are
quipa and Cuzco; the second affords him an
opportunity to see tho nitrate fields and tho
borax lake, besides giving him a view of more
mountain peaks than he ever saw before at ono
time.
La Paz, the real seat of government,' Is a pic
turesque old city. It was a mining camp in the
sixteenth century and tho river which runs
. through it yielded up its yellow treasure to the
placer miners of that day. If the reader can
imagine an immense bowl, four or five miles
wide and fifteen hundred feet deep with a crack
in the rim, he can picture to himself tho depres
sion in which La Paz is situated. It Is the be
ginning of a canyon and the stream which forms
it, or at least uses It, plunges headlong through
a break In the mountains and hurries down to
the lowlands on the eastern slope. The descent
to La Paz Is made on an electric lino five miles
in length, a superb piece of engineering. Tho
view of the city nestling in the canyon does not
break upon one until the edge of the rim is
reached and the visitor is not likely to forget
its white walls and red roofs.
All the officials live at La Paz and the repre
sentatives of foreign governments reside there.
It is, in fact, the capital, although Sucre still
clings to tho title.
PotosI, which in a few months will have rail-
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