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DECEMBER 16, 19.10
The Commoner.
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Tho President's Message
.. liast night sat me down, dear Bill,
y And read your message through;
'Its two score thousand wordB, dear
- - Bill,
; - And 'twas a big task, too.
For some clear plan for my relief
- I searched its every word,
; And looked till to my tired eyes
, vThe whole thing blinked and
- blurred.
' I! note yoiir interest, dear Bill,
In business big and great,
But if you thought of men like me
That fact you failed to state.
" Not every one has stock in banks
Or deals in puts and bids.
Say, Bill; how 'bout the men like me
With six big, lusty kids?
With, six big, "lusty kids, dear Bill,
Clear limbed and red of cheek;
And me to feed that hungry bunch
On fifteen plunks a wfeek?
And clothe them, too, from head to
foot,
From headgear down to shoes,
And not a word of help from you
O shucks, Bill! What's 'the use?
I read it to my wife, dear Bill,
In hopes she'd profit glean,
But now and then she'd look at me
And aBk"What does he mean?"
I tried to make your meaning clear
Where it was somewhat deep,
But spite of all my efforts, Bill,
The dear girl fell asleep.
x Por forty thousand words, dear Bill,
You took your wandering way,
But in the two" score thousand words
What did you really say
To solve the problems for us men
- In whose aid you should speak,
Who have to feed and clothe the kids
On fifteen plunks a week?
On fifteen plunks a week, dear Bill,
One-fifth of it in rents;
"Coal nine per ton, and woolens up,
And bacon thirty cents.
Not all of us are bankers, Bill,
Or men of high finance;
And on the square, Bill, don't you
M ' tnink
r We ought to have some chance?
, .Your message,- Bill 0, what's the
USG? X 1
'Twas ponderous and trite;
But, after all, 'twas what we knew
You'd more than likely. write.
- Some day, please God, we'll have a
x man
To act as president -
- Who'll think in terms of human souls
Instead of cent per cent.
An Open Letter
Hon. Champ Clark, Speaker-to-be,
House of Representatives, Washing
Sn! D. C My Dear Mr Clark:
Along with about 'steen million other
- men of this country who have long
admired you for your ability, your
honesty of purpose and your gen
Sine democracy, I want to congratu
late you upon your certain and sure
Section to the place a lot of men
have longed to amputate Uncle Joe
Cannon from. Tou, and the demo
cratic house over which you will soon
bo "ailed to preside, are going to
have some opportunities, your action
- upon which will make or mar the
fiitiire of our beloved party.. I am
" not much S a politician Mr. C ark
' r,S T freely admit that I couldn't
take up "Schedule K of the Aldrich
Sriff b 11 and make its meaning clear
n mv friends. This is because I
im not well up la the subtleties of
language as slung by the esteemed
gentlemen who have so generously
and so freely used it to conceal their
real thoughts and purpose. As a
language slinger I am in the never
run class, but when it comes down
to figuring on how I can make a
meagre salary provide for a wifb and
six lusty Jtids I've got Aldrich
skinned both ways from the middle
because that's a stunt that takes
some figuring, if anybody asks you.
There are ninety millions of peo
ple in this glorious republic of
ours, Mr. Clark, and something like
seventeen million of them being men
like me who have .to keep jumping
sideways to feed and clothe tho
sixty-eight million who are dependent
upon us, and at tho same timo pay
tribute to the other one million emi
nent financial and industrial gentle
men who experience no trouble in
amply providing for the four million
dependent upon them. As one of the
seventeen million I am addressing
you now.
As I remarked before, I am not
well up in the subtleties of language,
but I can figure a bit. While I can
not fathom the involved language
of "Schedule K" I know that it holds
me up for an average of $7 a yeaT
per member of my family, and there
are eight of us. I am told that this
is intended partly as protection to
our American sheep, but I have fig
ured out that there is only about
one-seventh of a sheep per capita. I
don't care a rap about the sophistry
of an Aldrich or the maundering of
a Payne I know that ?5G a year is
too blamed much to tax me in order
to protect the one and one-seventh
sheep dependent upon me and my
family for fostering care and pater
nal protection. I am quite willing
to pay my share of taxes for the
support of the government, and once
upon a time I offered my services in
defense of the flag said services be
ing kindly but firmly declined be
cause I happened to be equipped with
imitation teeth and therefore in no
position to masticate the beef that
the war department knew would be
palmed off on the soldiers for the
benefit of the poor beef packers. But
darn my buttons, Mr. Clark, if I'm
not opposed to letting a lot of trust
magnates gather what they deem is
the right amount that should be paid
over by me, and then let them agree
among themselves how much should
filter through their fingers into Uncle
Sam's treasury. It is too much like
the old-time railroad conductor who
alw.ays tossed up the day's collection
of cash fares, pocketing all that fell
to the floor and turning over to the
company all that stuck to the bell
cord.
I'm expecting you and the con
gress over which you are- to preside
to take right hold of this matter and
square it up. You know what we
meant when we said we wanted re
vision downward and I opine the
gentlemen who tried to butt tho
democratic bull off the track last
November realized what we meant,
too.
But the tariff problem is not the
only one. The other day the glass
trust magnates were fined a whole
thousand dollars each for making a
million or two out of their violation
of the anti-trust law, which fines
they immediately made their em
ployes pay. The fine was imposed by
a federal court, too. A few years
ago I stood in a federal court room
in Omaha and neara a ieuerai juu,u
sentence to life imprisonment a mer
boy who had held up a star routo
mall carrier and robbed the mall
sack of just one copper cent. Fact!
Many years ago I was sent to jail
for contempt of court becauso I
wouldn't answer a question from tho
witness stand, but when tho beef
barons wore guilty of contempt of
court in that they failed to hoed a
court Injunction they wero merely
slapped on tho wrist with a feather
duster and Implored not to do It
again. Do you think you could sort
o' oven' this matter ' up a bit, Mr.
Clark?
If I should bo compelled to swipe
a side of bacon and a sack of flour
to keep my wife and babies from
starving, I'd get about three years
at hard labor In the pen. In a coun
ty jail In my stato are three million
aires serving six months each for
stealing thirty or forty thousand
acres of tho public domain, and they
have telephones and soft carpets and
books and flowers In their colls, and
a Jap chef cooks and serves their
meals. Dog-gone It, Mr. Clark, that
sort o' thing don't striko mo as be
ing on tho lovel, and I'm hoping
you'll find somo way of fixing It up.
Again: Tho other day I had oc
casion to transact a little business
with a corporation lawyer. Ho draws
a salary of $12,000 a year from
a big railway concern for his ser
vices, and $75 a month pension from
Uncle Sam for disabilities Incurred
during the late unplensantnesB be
tween the north and tho south.
Shortly afterwards I dug down In
my pocket and contributed my mite
to help out an old man who didn't
have a dollar, was out of work and
had a sick wife dopendent upon him.
He had performed valiant service to
his country, because ho had worked
hard, added to the wealth of the
community and helped his fellow
whenever he could. But tho merci
less industrial grind has sapped his
strength, and now in tho twilight of
life he Is up against it mighty hard.
I believe that tho men who fought
for the old flag are deserving of pen
sions, but I also believe that tho men
who have faithfully and honestly
lived for their country are also on
titled to something more than pub
lic charity. Can't you sort o' even
that thing up a bit, Mr. Clark?
Don't you think the soldiers of
peace are entitled to something?
Something more than a chanco to
hustle for work, pay tribute to trusts
and then be told what a lot of dad
blnged fools they wero not to have
saved up a few thousand dollars out
of their meagre wages to keep them
in old age. We've had a lot of talk
about the "captains of finance," Mr.
Clark, but I am here to say that the
greatest financier in this day and age
Is the mechanic who can feed and
clothe and educate a' family and
bring up his children honestly to up
right citizenship and do It all on
an average wage of less than $600
a year. I'd like to see soma of the
big "captains of industry" or "cap
tains of finance" perform that stunt.
Yet I know hundreds of obscure
working men who are doing it, and
they are the sort of men this coun
try depends upon for its prosperity
in times of peace and its safety in
times of war. And these working
men are looking to you and your
colleagues, Mr. Clark, to give their
cases a bit more attention than they
have received heretofore.
I am not expecting you to do the
impossible, Mr. Clark, but I and a
few million other obscure and patient
Individuals are expecting you to do
something and to do it without
frtnHrm-'iiwav anv time at It. either.
We've had a lot of jawsmithlng dur
ing the last five or six years, ana
the amount of. advice we have had
about rearing our families and run
ning our farms and obeying the pow
ers that be is really wonderful to
contemplate but after all we are
15
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Trapptrs andFurSbipptrs
Our prfro lltt in rwdy and can lx had for
Ihn nwklnir. AUn our "TmptHiV Oufdff, which
eontnln "10O Vy nnd MmiW of trapping
rurtxwrlntraiilnitiu. Wo pay hiahcMt market
price for lur, I or further Information mo our
price Hot. Wrlto today to
AIROHAMS FUR ft WOOL CO.
Fur Merchant Koymonr, Win.
BO YOU WANT A NEW BED?
Thl ItoautirulMAMlveSnowy.
nuiM,uunuiiRi Aim
SlMiAM'tMl ubw fuoe
W mk lUntvlM. til flntst
ndtettdlntlioWorid. A3c
jrour Hmw to w them. Yo
can try them 84 dr tofor
yixitHiy.raWi1UforHjrll4
an Poffnc Cctttar-niKK.
Hrto Iron A Breu I!l Co M Vla Hi., lUrloa, U4.
SvB
KRT limntTM on wrtli toe ..
Won-Kxploilre Kafcty lttnit Uuruer.
lUmpIo re. to otlior now tint MlKm.
X'UuoHlx Mf. Co., Newark, X, J,
IO Cherry Trees $1. whypayhfo
priced for nur
AO Concord Grape Lr
JMi hill lor 545 tiiU ftixi omIkIokuo Trnm.
FAIRBURY HUR EliltS. Box E, Fairbury, Nebr.
I A rJT til TV I1 Q HKUKKI) OK FKK
Frco report m to ratcntAhlllty. Illutr;ttd lull
Hook, and Lint of Inventions wanted, wntlre.
VICTOK J. KVANS & CO., WmIiIiikUhi, 0.0
wmim
JUJKNTH KAltN J 76 to 12(0 a month eMUmg
Novelty Knives. IMndrfl, raror lel. Hlx innrnlm
ctinrantce. Hnndlca lcortrl w thmime, adrfrtM
lodKo omblcin. trado dadgnx, prrnond photo, or
pictures of IJiiyan nd otiier r I'hrctle. Ore
tell m. nijrcorninlMJon. Wrlto rjulclc for terrllory,
Nevelty Cutlery t., 88 Bar it., Cantn, O.
THE
GUARANTY STATE BANK
lias deponltors In every ntato of the
union In tho interests of Bound
and uafo banking you ahould bo one
of them. In the IntorestA of your
Bclf and dependents your money
should bo placed whero It Is secured.
Wo share our success with our
customers. Arnontf our assets are
strength, conservatism and liber
ality, three Important factors te
consider.
Send for Ilooklet.
M. G. HASKELL, V. P.
MUSKOG2B, OICLA.
Agents
ROOSEVELT'S OWN BOOK
unticjtw cutwE trjuis
Wanted I By thousands in all parts
of tho country. Needed! A man
in every place to take this, tho solo
account of Theodore Roosevelt'
adventures by his own hand, to
hundreds In his neighborhood
Offered! Strong co-operation, mon
opoly of flcld, high commission.
Take this great chanco and write
for prospectus now to
Roosevelt-Scribner League
I3S Fifth Avenue.
HEW YONK.
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