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The Commoner.
VOLUME 10, NUMBER '4
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The Commoner.
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Nob,
gressman, Bryan has never held any office. That
Clay and Webster were really statesmen, -wero
omen of high mental endowments, is still another
fa'ctor of difference. Mr. Bryan is not a states
man, neither is he a man of exceptional mental
equipment. His ideas as to state craft are crude
and Indefinite, while in mentality he is neither
possessed of breadth or strong analytic power.
Three several times this man has run for the
presidency and as many times been defeated,
and yet we meet the surprising contradiction
of this man wielding an influence in shaping the
destinies of his country second to no man of
his time. On three great occasions his country
men have sent him down to defeat and seeming
ly rejected all he stood for, and at the same
time they were adopting all he stood for, and
give indications of going so much farther be
yond him as to leave Bryan stranded in con
servatism. Truly Bryan is 'a living proof that
the heterodoxy of today is the orthodoxy of
tomorrow.. In 1896, he was so rankly hetero
dox as to seem anarchic, but if you will notice,
what he then assaulted -were those great abuses
which would soon press for settlement. In 1896
he mildly suggested that ,some of our federal
courts were neither infallible or holy. At the
mere mention of such, a thing, most of the priv
ileged interests had chills, and shouted "anarch
ist" with lusty horror. Since then the thinking
element of this country has realized that the
old court superstition is childish, that a court
is entitled to respect only when it earns it and
that one of the gravest political problems that
confronts us is the usurpations of the federal
courts. He was one of tho first of our public
men to insist that what ails this country js
government-protected privilege. That is the
great issue today. Another curious thing Is
that while his three defeats virtually eliminated
him from leadership of the oldest political party
in thin country, it seems to have lost ,all its
vitality with his elimination, but the political
principles for which he stands not only survived,
but have become more vital than ever. "Insur
gency," as It is called, is only .another name for
"Bryanism,"
Bryan claims that the republican party has
stolen his thunder. This is true, for nearly
every reform he has urged is bearing or will
bear fruit. Even the reform of the monetary
system, his demands concerning which all the
protected privileges especially, aro convinced
were revolutionary and dangerous, must finally'
result in some feasible method to take the place
of the present patchwork system. It was Bryan
who first emphatically demanded tho publica
tion of campaign expenses before election-, the
leading opponent of such a plan being on Theo
dore Roosevelt. Now the publication of cam
paign contributions before election has become
a' great republican doctrine with Theodore'
Roosevelt as its leading exponent. Bryan de
nounced in unmeasured terms government by
injunction. Tho country elects afc president the
leading exponent of that vicious system, but
believes as Bryan does. The Ossfwatomie speech
of Theodore Roosevelt was nothing more than
a radical restatement of the doctrine preached
by Bryan; and here let mo remark that you
will often hear people say that while it is true
that Roosevelt has really done little, he has
been of great value to the country because his
rantankerous talk served to arouse the people
to their wrongs. What is the real truth is that
tho arousing was done by the talk of Bryan,
who advocated all that Roosevelt has advocated
and advocated it first. Notwithstanding appear
ances to the contrary, the influence of Bryan in
shaping the destinies of the country has been
far more potent than the .Influence of Roosevelt,
armed with the presidency for two terms though
tho latter was.
It must be admitted that the majority of men
of the present day do not realize the tremen
dous influence this one private citizen has wield
ed in shaping public opinion. A people that
fanatically and insanely worships success pays
little attention to what seemingly appears as
failure, and yet It Is one of the most luminous
facts of history that the leaders of great causes'
have almost without exception been failures.
Where, for instance, is there a more crushing
"failure" than Golgotha, which in reality was
but a start for the ideas that were to conquer
the world? Bryan has met the common fate
of reformers in thatt he was rejected only to
' have his teach In gd' finally adopted.
Another seeming paradox is the personal pop
ularity of- Bryan. Few men have ever run for
the presidency who have been able to win such
popularity. Both popular and teaching doc
trines his people finally, accept, he is neverthe
less three times refused the presidency. This
popularity so obvious, Is really a secondary con-
sideration. To Bryan as a moral factor we must
trace the potent influence ho has wielded and
still yields, despite the general belief that he
is a political de'ad one. Bryan has been one
of the most consistently and even serenely just
and honest public men of recent years. He Is
on the level. Many of the reforms he has sug
gested have been vague and lacking In practi
cality, but back of them all have been principles
that were essentially right. To .this we may
credit the singular influence this man has wield
ed In shaping the destinies of his country to
his moral power. St. Louis Censor.
SENATOR LAFOLLETTE GIVES PRESIDENT
TAFT WARNING . X
A special dispatch to the Chicago Record
Herald, a republican paper, under date of Wash
ington, December 6, follows:
Senator LaFollette of Wisconsin, practically
has refused to meet and talk with President
Taft at the White House, having replied to an
invitation extended through Secretary Norton
by sending a brief letter to the president him
self. While other insurgent senators latterly
not on the White House visiting list have ac
cepted the proffered olive branch to the extent
of responding to requests that they-call on the
president to discuss judicial appointments- and
other matters, the Wisconsin senator cannot see
his way to resuming even the very formal per
sonal relations that 'were severed a year and a
half ago.
Under date of December 3, it was learned to
night. Secretary Norton wrote a letter to Senator
LaFollette telling him the president would like
to see him for a discussion of judicial appoint
ments. Instead of going to the White House
or seeking an appointment for a conference,
Senator LaFollette wrote a letter which he ad
dressed to the president personally.
This letter and the facts bearing on it were
given out tonight as the result of a statement
that the president a month ago "wrote a very
cordjal letter to the senator, asking him to visit
the White House upon his arrival in Washing
ton fpr the winter's sessipn qf congress. Senator
LaFollette says ho received no such letter and
that he has had no communication from the"
president In eighteen months.
Tlie letter "which the senator wrote to the
president was as follows: r "-! -?
"-December 5, 1910. Dear Mr. President: I
have a letter from your secretary, Mr. Norton
stating that you would like to discuss with me
certain judicial appointments.
"The one suggestion I would offer Is that, In
viw of preent conditions, only mch men should
be selected as will -bo certain to construe the
constitution and -the .law with due regard to the
interest of the people, eliminating from con
sideration those whose legislative or judicial
record show them biased toward special inter
ests or whose legal connections would tend to
prejudice their minds 'In favor of such interests.
I may properly add that J. shall support your
administration whenever I can do so consistent
ly and I shall oppose your recommendations
only when I find It necessary so to do In accord
ance with my convictions of public duty. Re
spectfully yours,
( w "ROBERT M. LAFOLLETTE.,'
"Hon. W. H. Taft, the White House."
Thus the harmony movement, which was de
signed to embrace everybody, irrespective of
previous condition, has received a sudden, al
though not entirely surprising, jolt. It is not
certain at this writing whether -the visiting-relations
temporarily resumed by others among"
Mr. LaFollette's insurgent colleagues will be
continued very long.
Friends ,pf the' senator say there evidently
was a desire, somewhere to place him in a
wrong light with respect to the White House
situation. There are likely to be some further
Interesting developments on one side or the
other, or both.
TnUr,ally.Abe PBsIbI effect of Senator La
Follette s attitude on the confirmation of the
president's nominations to fill the supreme court
vacancies comes up for consideration Added
to the announced determination of other sen
ators to scrutinize appointments carefully, Is the
very plain warning of the Wisconsin senator
that he may be expected to precipitate one of
his personally conducted fights or filibusters'
If there be any nominee with a procorporation
or special interest record. - , -
PROGRESSIVE
Ti!?rpfSS A reBldent Taft'a message, the
Lincoln (Neb.) Journal says: "One or two
exceptions aside, we cannot see how the mes
?vVan,T,beT vIeed as, .anything Jbut progress
s ve." The Journal is a leader among "progres
sive republicans" In the northwest. t If, thi is a
sample of what the people may expect in the v "
event the party is captured by "progressive re
publicans," then surely it will be a .case of "out -.
of the .frying-pan into the fire." When will
reformers among the republican editors learn
that we cannot secure progressive measures '
from standpat statesmen, any more than we can
pluck -figs from thistles? Will these republican
reformers never learn that a statesman who
naBJ mi?shly. Phased the special Interests -as
Mr. Taft has done cannot be depended upon
Ttx116. PeoPIe relief from the imposition
which the special interests put upon them?
TB33 WINDOW WISHERS
The little window wishers, with their tender" n
eyes of blue, . . - r
Standing there before the toy shops, don't thevT"
touch the heart of you? ;7C "
Don't you almost shiver with them, as their tat
tered clothes you see, - -V, -'
The ragged little urchins, with the patches on
eacn icnee t v , -
Cacnhffi,oTs WW ..
IS't your p,annins tor a mH '. '
Oh, the little window wishers, baby hearts knV '
baby eyes, . uuy -
WIF.SW faIth In Santa fiazIn '? -
eseviSf Teddy,
That they will not be forgotten. Can you" sea';"'
them without grieving? y 8ea
Can you think of them on Christmas when the r'
merry morning starts -
"t'oda8 ""' wlndow wisBer. looking longingly'
toZZ, t07 th0I ln Mweet "-"'"" :
DrXlnc!n&ndl?hhrt,o8.M to-W ,' '
Juat a fun of f aitfi and fincy as your om '
girls and, your boys.
ssles as : ?. 5? iirt tiM;
Can you rush by and forget them, don't thty
W 'm
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Detroit Fre Pre,
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