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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1910)
The Commoner. VOLUME 10, NUMBER W, 4wWbM 'u.-t'T m I HI Bs"f5"8u623S2fB HI aUeaHam'iSBeJlw' Rp RXT:b:BEX lOOFIIVQ. WARRANTED FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. To any station East of the Rocky Mountains. One Ply weighs 35 lbs., 108 square feet, $1.10 per roll. Two Ply weighs 45 lbs., 108 square feet, $1.30 per roll. Three Ply weighs 55 lbs., 108 square feet, $1.50 per roll. We save you the wholsalers and retailers' profit. These special prices only hold good for immediate shipment. INDESTRUCTIBLE BY HEAT, COLD, SUN OR RAIN. ANYBODY CAN LAY IT. Write for FREE SAMPLES or order direct from this advertisement. Satisfaction nuarantced or money refunded. We refor you to the Southern Illinois National Bank. Century Manufacturing Co. East St. Louis, III. LUMBER FOR SALE Fifty Million Feet of Brand New Lumbor which wo offer at a saving Of 30 to 50 per cent. Send us your lumber bill for our estimate. Chicago House Wrecking Co., 35th and Iron Streets, Chicago. Freight Paid Prices on New Lumber Mere la m ehanea tn BUY LUMBER at 30 to 60 Bar cent leas tlinn In nunnllv nnknil for it. It In alifiolutolv brand nw anil f Irat elaaa In evarv (particular and eruarantaad crradaa. Wn bouaht ,000,OSO feet from lumber mills at half thouaunl pricoa and wo aro plvina tho publio tho bonotlt of It. Thoro la absolutely no pOBtublllty tor you to go uronitln this matter. Never In twenty years hae Lumber bean of farad at such low prices nS vro nnmo, If you do not tako ad vantngo of this chance, you sro missing a Bplondld opportunity. Wo quoto f rolght prepaid price SEND LUMBER BILL FOR ESTIMATE Inolndo In. your list every nlnelo artiolo ran need to build or imnrovo. It mnknn no difference whothor you noed a full carload or not. we will earo you monoy. Our stock inolndos ovorything used m unuainR, ana it ib gooa material too; uotmng outtor memo. Every dollar's werta ic covered by a binding guarantee. Thousands of ttatlstled customers ovorywhoro. Our Onpftnl Stock ana Surplus in oror $1,000,000. Wo bavo a comploto etock of Plumbing; Ma terial, Heating Apparatus. Hardware, Fencing;. Furniture, Carpets, Rubs, Office Furniture, ripe, culverts, structural iron, maemnery. Dry uooua, ciotning, Groceries, snees. tc, ate WRITS FR OUR FREE lOOO PAGE ILLUSTRATED CATAVOQ No. L. H. H CHICAGO HOUSE WrWCKHW Co., 35tli andiron StsH CHICAGO. ONE DOLLAR Pays for a Big Daily Paper 3 Times a Week and The Commoner Both One Year TL THRICE- i ne a-week New York World and The Commoner 1 Year $1 . This Extra Special Offer Good Only for a Limited Time A REMARKABLE OFFER By Bnecial arranKements. cood only for a limited timo, The Com- j moner is able to make this unpar lejlcd bargain subscription offer to send The Daily New York World Thricc-a-Week Edition a big dally paper three times a week and The Commoner, both one year each for $1. Regular price of both is $2. This big offer means 156 big daily papers from tho nation's metropolis for all practical purposes as good as u regular daily and 52 issues of Tho Commoner or 203 raperc for only yl, less than a half cent apiece. 'his special offer is good to all new or renewing subscribers who send in their subscriptions promptly. To get the two papers, th full amount, $1, must be sent to The Commoner, Lincoln, Nebraska, and mention this offer when writing. The Commoner wants everyone to call the attention of their friends to this great offer. This extra special Inducement will enable ycu to help alcng thj work Vhe Commoner is doing by adding to its list aa many- new names as possible. Address THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Neb. given by Gifford Pinchot in his re cent speech at St. Paul: "Tho reali ties of tho regular political game lie far beneath the surface; many of the issues advanced aro mere empty sound; whilo tho issues really at stake must be sought deep down in tho politics of business in politics for 'revenue only." This does sound as though Mr. Pinchot believed the people wero getting badly foolod. Anyway, all of us know that the democratic party in this country is popularly symbolized by an ass. And tho wise ones know that Demos himself will be practically as help less as the ass helpless to throw off tho harness by which he is made to haul heavy burdens for his drivers, whether hitched to the republican, democrat or socialist cart, until he learns to make his own harness, put it on to suit himself and be his own driver. He must look to himself for deliverance. So long as he builds his hopes on parties, or party lead ers, ho violates the democratic prin ciple and will surely betray himself. And those vociferous "democrats," self-styled, who teach hero-worship instead of, self-reliance, blatantly de nouncing tho "isms," tirelessly ex horting to the strenuous life, cau tiously avoiding an irrevocable step when the time comes for decisive 'ac tion, and straddling the issues when loyalty to professions involves risk of popularity such leaders will never help Demos to solve his problems of self-government. Their answer to urgent questionings from the people will continue to be, "God knows" and "Don't go to extremes." But a great light is dawning. The people are rapidly learning that the way to show what they want and get what they want is direct legislation. They are learning that the demo cratic meaning of the initiative, ref erendum and recall is thjs, that every citizen and group of citizens shall have a fair chance to express their wish and their choice. This is the ideal democracy that just organiza tion of society that makes brotherly provision for protest even from the humblest member who is hampered or offended by the existing status. Certainly anything that falls short of this should be challenged as perpet ual occasion for revolt. For the ideal democracy is vital to the prob lem of knowing what the people really want. And it is equally vital to the problem of getting what they want. For the emphatic and unmis takable expression of the will of the people (which is obtainable only through genuine democracy) is it self the best guaranty of democracy's triumph, of doing what the people want done. Its verdict commands the respect of the world. Tyrants fear -it and study to capture its seem ing sanction. Its authority is august. It stands for an axiomatic right to decide public Issues. Thus the voice of the people becomes the voice of God. Lot rlftmnnrntn thmi 'hofHr nr ouce the work of emancipation by putting into practice the ideal democ racy of the initiative, referendum and recall in every field where it can be applied the club, tho business association, and citizens meeting. Tho democratic function can not be too often or too thoroughly exercised. Do this, and the people will begin prog ressively, to be their own masters to know what they want and how to get it. tion tools. What aro our United States courts? Four-flfths of them have been .corporation lawyers, se lected by corporations, endorsed by corporation presidents and con firmed by a corporation dominated houso of lords, our United States senate. I wonder at The Commoner publishing tho doctor's letter. For more than two and a half years I havo advocated and asked The Com moner to advocate and demand tho initiative, referendum and power of recall. I also demanded that United States senators, United States judges and postmasters be elected by tho people, but The Commoner, didn't take to it like a duck to water. Our weekly or daily press give their read ers little or no Insight into tho bills pending before congress and this is one reason that the people don't get what theywant. Why was It that congress didn't increase the postage on second class mail matter? Be cause our magazines raised a howl, and their readers covered Weeks up with their protests, and this bill or proposition of Taft's never material ized. If our press would expose ob noxiousJjIlls they would go the same way the postal increase proposition went. Why doesn't our democratic daily press expose obnoxious bills? Because nine-tenths of them are en gaged in some graft scheme of their own. What I stand for: First, In itiative and referendum platform. Second, the election of United States senators and judges by direct vote. Judges to be elected for a limited term not exceeding six years; minor judges and postmasters to be elected by tho community they serve. Third, deprive the president or governor of the appointive power, other than his private secretary. Fourth, a consti tutional convention to revise our con stitution. Fifth, the elimination of our United States senate, or house of lord& (tho trusts' nest).- Sixths the railroads holding charters from states shall be controlled by states and not by the general government. J. H. Bally, Conway, Ark. In an swer to the question. Theyreajly get what they vote for and ought to have it. They vote for a wage system and reap slaves. Give us socialism and the people will rule. C. W. Staples, Osceola, Wis. I have been a subscriber since volume one, number one, and hence fail to see the sense of "making so much ado about nothing," as the two items in your paper. No. 1. If the people rule, why otcourse they do not rule and consequently can not get what they want. Neither the democrats or republicans will give the people rule. Both old parties are controlled by the interests. No. 2. Of course not, but the trusts are only a part of tho gov ernment, and the part is never great er than the whole. The -trust is a good thing for those who own the trust, as the socialists advise, all cf us will be benefited by tho trust. The government can control the trust, but it must be by forming a trust large enough to absorb the smaller one. It appears to me that tho socialists are the progressive people nowadays. If the democrats would take up some of their most progressive platforms, with our present organization wo could win the earth. J. T. Ellis, Clarksville, Mo.I agree with Dr. J. S. Wailes of Mystic, Ga., in every word he writes on the question. I quote his last sentence: "We havo been fiddling for self-government for 135 years, have we made any progress?" Have we made any progress? I answer, No, wo have retrograded. One hundred and thirty- five years ago our public men were men of honor. What are they to day? With rare exceptions, corpora- Peter A. Cool, New York. First, because tho people are slow on tho matter ' of primaries and caucuses where men are nominated for the various offices. Second, because the liquor dealers and brewers general ly attend the primaries and caucuses and are in at tho beginning where candidates are discovered and nom inated. The people become aroused when it is too late to change the candidates; Both party conventions have been managed by represents (Continued on Page. 14) 1 -vHY''aafr''aafaaiaa k-1 ,? iM! -?1 ,.fU: uVM4tAeMi4tf!aiUAjeMeMlalBY gTTli m as