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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1911)
t -..-v. rv t? r n FEBRUARY 3, 19li The Commoner. - 7 r- . Ir'-J 'V'mw- JSpS l(. J . .aA . . dinner fjs' fo. :e fixed by Chief Justice White; and its purposes are said to-be, two-fold: 'First, it is. propose ?to honor tho w first graduate of a Jesuit .college -who has reached the higbr office of justice of; tHe. supreme-court of the United States. Secj&ndi.it is Intended to 'form, a: soft of national organization of the alumni "societies of the Jesuit universities with headquarters in this city .(Washington), with a New Yorker as president.. A committee has been named to wait upon Justice White and inform- him of the plans of the alumni societies and have him 'fix tne date of tho banquet and reception at the Metropolitan club.' " FORMER GOVERNOR Prank S. Black' of New York delivered a sneech at n- hantror's banquet in. New York Citv. A United' Prft report says; ,(The Black speech included en thusiastic praise of Speaker Cannon and bitter criticism of 'muck rakers and demagogues and Ithe ensuing aDDlause was led hv J. p Mnrtmn JThe fact that Black, after assailing the Initiative uu reierenuum, tne recall, popular election of lunited States senators, and nf tho nth or inr trlnes advocated by progressives in the two old parties, was applauded at length and the speaker eafterward warmly congratulated by Morgan and iue otner Dig nnanciers .is thought to indicate that the moneyed' interests of tho mnntrv win oppose any extension of these policies wherever MjussiDie, most especially in the east. 'It is up iu tue Dusiness men or sense,' said Black, 'to fault WhisneHnr? ln nrlvnto -nrlion An. ,, pnd disturbers are busy and to come out and treason witu tne people. Demagogues always i"iail W1-u "" uuvuuiage no iair disputant ever Inas. Men like von hoHovo hut von nn rtf speak and conseduentlv demapnmr And wimir. raking go on unrebuked. I believe that gen- jrauoiiB irom now, wnen tne names of sporadic nd voluable reformers aro nronorvod nniv ho pause they fought him, the name of Speaker lyauuuu win De rememnered wltn increasing respect. The nluckrakor and tho doTnarmoMio wave done harm enough and ought to be sent lu mu rear.; ineir -message of 'distrust and fciirhiilonno iWi'noftha'p DinnnKn '-.; j-... mi.' tVast"niajorit"6f !Amterica1fi:tbnjSnofin 'iri' howi I'done and the vast majority of American for- ii,uuea uouesuy acquired. " .. BVTQ ONE CAN TELL just now the scope of RL.1 the Progressive Republican Loamio rortont- ily organized. A special writer in the Phila delphia North American savs: "Tt mpnim tho banding together of the progressive forces with Jjn the republican party to fight for control of pat party, and it suggests with unmistakable clearness the possible formation of a third party In case that effort fails. Tho denlaraHnn nut Korth today, signed by nine progressive repub lican senators, a score of republican memhora nf Kthe house and a long list of public-spirited men mot neretorore mentmecl with political move tments.. Is a summons to tho nonnlo nf tho rnn gtry to assume control of their own affairs, and esneciallv a summons tn tho ronnhHnn'na n, wrest control of the party from the gang polltl- Lcians and tne special privilege combinations. KWhile no announcement is made of the imme- jdiate political purposes of those in the move. (ment, no one can doubt that it will develop into fa fight against the renominatjon of President j.Taft, and no one can doubt that it will provide m rallying point not only for the opponents of JTaft's renomination, but the opponents as well jpf the special privilege legislation which Preslr ident Taft has favored. This hofnp- trim th Iguestion naturally arises as to whether the movement, if it succeeds at all, will not suc- ftceeu. ueyona tne nower or its promoters to con trol Its action, and develop into a third party." EEFERRING TO the punishment visited upon its editor, Fred WaTren, the Appeal to Reason, socialist paper, says; "Warren's 'crime' apparently consisted in this, that he tried to do, or to, cause ethers to do, that which the supremo court of the United States pro nounced to be .perfectly legal when it was done. The actual. kidnapping, In the dead of night, of Moyer, Haywood and PettJbone from the state of Colorado to the state of Idaho was declared tiy the Unitqd States.supreme ceurt to have been te;nipt, or the. offer of a rewardfor the attempt, to1 kidnap ex-Gpyern'or, piylpYot Kentucky ;a;rid tof deliver himuto the udieial iuthWltfes in' hla own state, hag been adjudged a crime punish able by heavy fine and imprisonment. Whence "' this difference? Why i.a.mero attempt crimo, and tho .. accomplished act no -crimo whatever? Can it bo that. tho accomplished act was right and proper for the reason. that tho sufferors and victims were labor leaders, while tho unsuccess-. - "ful; attempt was a crime for tho reason that the., person against whom the attempt was aimed waB, a prominent capitalist politician? Perish the thought! Tho equality of all citizens before the law is a sacred principle of American juris prudence, which it were almost blasphemy to doubt. Particularly when wo consider that the offer of a reward for tho arjrest of fugitives from justice' is quite an ordinary practice resorted to' by constituted authorities everywhere War ren's 'crime' must be deeper and blacker than any overt act or attempt for which ho was com pelled to appear in court. And if this 'crime' does not consist in being a socialist, wo do not know what it does consist in. In Warren's case, moreover this crimo assumed a particularly offensive and flagrant aspect, for Warren is tho editor of a socialist paper with a large circula tion. A crimo so unusual certainly merits ex emplary punishment. And yet this revolting crime was not mentioned in course of either trial of tho case." THE NEW SENATOR 'from Tennessee is de scribed in a Nashville dispatch to tho Chicago Record Herald as follows: "Luke Lea, independent democrat, practical owner of tho Nashville Tennesseean-American, and youngest politician in Tennesseo with any degree of sue- cess, was named by the general assembly today to succeed to tho seat in the United States senate held by James B. Frazier. His nomina tion is the last echo of the tragedy in which ex-United States Senator Carmack was killed. At the time Carmack was shot he was editor in chief of tho Tennessean. Loa is generally spoken of as 'the man who made Governor Pat terson' In the first place, and the one who con tributed more subsequently than any other in defeating him, after he pardoned Colonel Coop err Imprisoned for the Carmack killing. 'Lea is thirty-two years of age, a, graduate of. tho University of the South at Sewanoe, and is tho second Luke Lea to attain prominence in the politics of Tennessee. He is the son of Overton Lea, a descendant of Andrew Jackson, and tho son-in-law of Percy Warner, president of the Nashvillo Railway and Light company. Ho came into prominence locally in 1906 when ho took chargo of the Home Telephone company's fight against the Cumberland Telephone com pany for a franchise in Nashville. In 1907, when the county unit primary plan was adopt ed, Lea supported Senator Carmack." REFERRING TO THE Lorimer case the In dianapolis News prints this editorial: . "It is clear that Senator Bailey of Texas is going to be a rather puzzling problem to tho demo- cratlc party. At the present time ho is or seems to be very greatly Interested in tho Lorimer case, and on the' Lorimer side thereof. It is known that he favors the majority report of the committee, which favored Lorimer. Only the other day Bailey made a' technical point against tho reception of Senator Beveridge's minority report, holding that it really was not a minority report at all. Ho did not press the point, as, so he said, his only purpose was to make a 'precedent.' And now Bailey Is greatly concerned over the 'attack' of the president on the independence of the senate. As all that Mr. Taft did was to ask that senators make a careful study of the evidence in the case, there is no reason to think that the senate will 're sent' an insult that was never given, The ques tion, of course, is whether the democratic party will allow itself to be put in a raise position by Bailey. The case is simple. It is charged that Lorimer's election is so tainted with cor ruption that he ought not to be allowed to retain his seat. The president evidently holds that opinion, as he has a right to do. Ho is a distinguished lawyer, and accustomed to. weighing evidence. Further than that, he Is the loader of his party, and as such has a per fect right to counsel with other republicans, even though they happen to bo members of tho senate, on matters affecting the welfare of the party. This is all he has done. Are the demo cratic senators, under tho leadership of Bailey, going to raise this false issue, and co-operate with certain of the republicans to support Lori mer as .against other republicans? It is to be noted 'that the great effort haa been to prevent any real consideration of the case. This was made clear in a dispatch to the New York Times, quoted In. tho Nows of yesterday, containing i this: "In the discussion of tho caso hero tho vpolht already' has beon reached whore evory man who declares himself in favor of a full and exhaustive examination of tho matter boforo a vote is taken is at once sot down by Lorimer's .frlonds as against Lorimer. Tho lino upon which tho friends of Lorimer aro proceeding just now ignores entirely tho question of wheth er tho election which gavo hlra his seat was honest or corrupt.' This is tho nature of tho campaign which is now on. It Is a campaign of suppression and secrecy. And Bailey, is ono of its leaders. Another interesting phase of the question is suggested by tho statement of tho Times that, representatives' of the lumbec tniBts aTo active in Lorimer's behalf. Tho most vigoroxis Lorimer lobbyist is, according to tho Times, the man 'who mado himself conspicuous about tho capitol during the tariff fight, especial-? ly when tho president was endoavoring to havo lumber put on tho free list.' Bailey, it will bo ro-r called, voted against freo lumber. If the presi dent and tho republican senators make up their minds that Lorimer ought not to have his seat, and if ho Js saved by a combination of Burrows republicans and Bailey democrats, tho demo cratic party will suffer a severe blow. This question is ono that concerns tho whole country, and it also touches the honor of tho senate. As for tho Influence of the president, it is notking compared with that which tho lobbyists attempt to wield when they impudently threaten sen ators who declare that they aro going to vot againsj; Lorimer." TIP VOTE BUYING, scandal in Uncle' Joo Cannon's homo county continues to grow. An Associated Press dispatch from Danville, Illinois, says: "Tho Vermilion county grand jury today heard Danville's city attorney ac cused of having admitted buying votes and was given a list of fifty possible witnesses by tho accusers. Tho city attorney's alleged trafficking, it was testified, was in tho interest of the present sheriff at tho last general election. Tho jury heard eleven witnesses, and twelve, including Speaker Cannon's son-in-law, aro subpoenaed for tomorrow. Tho fact that an investigation may disclose irregularities in tho elections of the state's attorney and even the court Itself has not stood in the way of their orders to have tho 3earch complete, and all tho officials concerned have openly announced they want tho inquiry to go to the bottom of affairs, re gardless of the result. One of the newspaper men who was a witness today told tho inquisi tors he had beon approached by persons offering him a vacation and several 'good things' if ha would not go b'eforo tho grand jury with his story. It had not beon expected the alleged vote traffic would be Investigated so soon, as there were many routine matters to bo looked into by the grand jury, but tho climax of tho situation was precipitated when tho two news paper reporters who last week sent broadcast a story purporting to contain a 'confession' from City Attorney Frank W. Jones that ho had pur chased votes, which story was denied by Jones, demanded to be allowed to go before tho grand jury, and tell their story. When it became known they would Insist on being heard, several forthwith subpoenas wore issued and nine other persons appeared later and were heard." AN INTERESTING story comes from Nash ville, Tennessee, in the following United Press dispatch: "That 'heavenly securities' constitute the major part of the estate of tho Rev. Lundy H. Harris, is tho substance of an inventory of his wife, Mrs. Cora Harris, author of 'A Circuit Rider's Wife.' Harris, who re cently committed suicide, is said to navo been the.real 'Circuit Rider' of the story. Mrs. Har ris' inventory declares Harris' temporal posses sions were '$2.35 In his purse, $116 in tho Union Trust company of Nashville, about 400 books and coffin In which he was buried.' 'But' she continues, 'the major part of his estate was invested in heavenly securities, the values of which have beon variously declared in this world and highly taxed by the various churches, but never realized. He Invested every year not less usually more than $1,200 in charity so secretly, so inoffensively and so honestly that he was never suspected of being a philanthro pist and never praised for his generosity. Ho contributed anonymously to every charity in Nashville; every old maid interested in a 'ben evblent object' received bis aid; every child ho knew exacted and received penny tolls from hid tenderness. Ho was ever recognized as ono of the largest bondholders in heaven.' " r VA t a ,tn'jii. j", .!. rs. i atfiLifcifi-'-w.W'- hif-ii,. ',rf 'Ai.Mllfc4Uiiii