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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1911)
The Commoner. 7 APRIL 7, iiii I Practical Tariff Talks Tho woolen, schedule in the Payne-Aldrlch tariff bill "was apparently based upon the old theory that what one doesn't know will never hurt him. When a witness was before the ways and means committee of tho house testify ing that many a man was wearing a cotton shirt under the impression that he had on a woolen one, Congressman Crumpacker, of In diana, one of the right-handy men of the Can non organization, sneeringly asked: "What's the difference if they don't "know it?" The ultimate consumer, however, will have some difficulty in reconciling himself to the doc trine that there is nothing immoral or wrong about cheating a man if he never discovers that ho has been defrauded. Yet the ultimate con sumer is due to encounter a number of experi ences ho may never know about fully while liv ing under the new tariff law. For instance: Most men who purchase ready-made clothing have a price limit beyond which they rarely go. Thus, a man who has been paying fifteen dollars for a suit or clothes will be puzzled by the fact, after reading about the advances of wool cloth, to discover that his clothier is still selling apparently as nice-looking and serviceable suits for the same old price. Very few men are judges of the quality of cloth or even of the worth of the workmanship. Yet this is what happens this spring when the re tailer goes to the manufacturer to place his fall orders: He will tell his suit-maker that he desires so many suits made that he can sell for standard prices, $12, $15, $18 or $20, and still retain his usual measure of profit. The manu facturer will pass the word on to the man who makes the cloth from which he moulds his suits that he must have cloth at a price that will enable him to make his customary profit. Thus each person in the transaction suffers no loss of profit on the fifteen dollar suit of clothes until it reaches the purchaser, who receives for that sum what twelve or thirteen dollars would haye purchased a year ago. The same thing is true of the underwear, hosiery and other textile goods in which wool has heretofore been used. The truth is that the sheep-raising business in this country has not kept pace with demand for wool in the in dustries, notwithstanding the enormous protec tion, for a number of reasons not specially ger mane to this story. The neavy tariff compels the Australian wool-grower to seek more favor able markets, and the American manufacturer, finding wool scarce and the price advancing, has had recourse to several expedients. One of these expedients has been to reduce the amount of wool in his cloth. Nowadays it is not in frequent to find nine-ounce cloth made up into light-weight suits. For many years In the cloth making business the light weight standard was sixteen ounce cloth and the heavy weight stand ard was twenty ounce cloth. At present sixteen ounces is regarded as the standard weight for heavy cloths and from nine to twelve ounces for the light weight. In order to make up the lost weight heavier lining, cotton wadding or some such substitute is used. Another expedient is to make what Is known in the trade as cotton worsted, which masquer ades to the retailer as almost all wool. In truth it is 50 per cent wool and 50 per cent cotton, alternate threads of each. The hosiery manufacturer has clipped off some from the length of the stocking and substituted cotton for half the wool threads. Much underwear that passes as wool is made almost wholly from Peru vian cotton, which cannot be told from wool by the average person. C. Q. D. AT THE AliAMO The 20,000 troops ordered to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Tex., are on the his toric spot where the battle of the Alamo wag fought. There a small force of American pioneers of the southwest fought against over whelming odds until death gave the Mexican fcrmy a temporary victory. The stronghold whither they are bound bears the name of tho general who brought independence to the Lone Star state. Thermopylae had its message of defeat. Alamo had none. This inscription ascribed to Lord Macaulay la engraved on a monument in the grounds of tho Texas capital at Austin in commemoration of the garrison, all of which died fighting against overwhelming odds in the battle of the Alamo, which ended March 6, 183 G. Americans in Texas rose. in rebellion against tho government of Mexico in 1835. Early in 1836 the rebellion grow Into warfare. Tho Texans were under the leadership of tho bluff General Sam Houston as president of the now republic of Texas and as commander-in-chief of their little army of volunteers. It was a daring undertaking for a scant 2,000 men to attempt to wrest tho Btate from Mexico with its 15,000 drilled troops. But the Toxans, headed by Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Wil liam Travis and John Haydon, feared no failure. The Mexican General Santa Anna sot out from the Itio Grande northward to quickly con quer and punish rebellious Texans. His army of 6,000 men, after a march of nearly 600 miles across a desolate country, reached San Antonio, confident of capturing that town and moving on to the new capitol at Washington, Tex. The garrison at San Antonio was unprepared for Santa Anna's coming. The first tidings of his approach was given by the sentinels posted on the roof of the Alamo, which was an aban doned Franciscan mission, built in 1723. It numbered about 185 men, under command of Colonel William Travis. When the news of Santa Anna's approach reached Travis he de termined to make good Its defense until re inforcements could arrive. With him waB Colonel James Bowie, whose name was always associated with his famous knife, and Davy Crockett, the frontiersman and hunter of his tory and romance. They had a few pieces of artillery, little ammunition, ninety bUBhels of corn and thirty beef cattle, which were hurried within the inclosure. Santa' Anna demanding immediate surrender. Travis returned a defiant refusal, emphasizod by a cannon shot. A blood red flag, signifying no ' quarter, immediately was raised above the Mexican camp, and their batteries opened upon tho garrison. Meanwhile, Travis had dispabched messen gers to Houston and Washington, Tex., ninety five miles away, appealing fr assistance. The Mexican batteries attempted a breach in the stone walls of the mission at dawn, February 26. For hours every day tho Mexi cans continued tho siege. In a1 hot fire which was opened upon tho gar rison on the last morning in February, some of the bombs fell close to tho spot whore Davy Crockett lay. He sprang up and made his way to the ramparts just as the Mexican gunner was reloading and before ho could fire again shot him. A comrade caught up the match and ran to the touchhole. But already a fresh rifle had been handed the Tennesseean and he picked out the Beoond gun ner as he had the first. Three more Mexicans made the attempt and met a like fate and for a time the gun was silenced. Colonel Travis called the garrison about him on March 3. He made a brief talk tolling his comrades that longer hope for assistanct was useless. He said that the Alamo should bo surrendered or it should be defended until the last man was dead. Ho drew a line with his sword on the adobe floor and said: "I propose to stay here until I am killed. All who will be with me will come to this side of the line; all who wish to surrender remain on that side." Davy Crockett leaped across with a trium phant wave of his cap. Every man in tho file joined him. It was a grim decision; the garri son lessening in number every day, the food supply was almost exhausted and only a few rounds of ammunition were left for the sur vivors. Bowie, almost from the beginning of the siege, was ill with typhoid. In a little adjoin ing room he lay on a rude bed attended by a Mexican woman. Hearing the speech of Colonel Travis he feebly called to his companions and bpgged them to pick up his cot and carry it over the line. A few hours later he became delirious and never recovered consciousness. The morning of tho final attack was a warm, bright Sunday. Colonel Bowie died about 3 o'clock. Death had become so common that no one paid any attention to the dying pioneer. They were blackened with gunpowder; they looked wild from lack of sleep and food; they seldom spoke and all their words and acts were those of men most torribly In earnest. The sole idea of each was to soil his llfo as dearly as possiblo. Santa Anna' determined to tako tho Alamo by assault. Tho band struck up "Duguelo" (assassin), and amid a boom of cannon ladders woro brought, tho walla of tho building woro scaled by 2,000 cavalrymen, whllo battering rams beat in tho doors. Tho Toxans ran to tho roof, whero several cannons had been statlonod. As fast as the Mexicans mounted they woro stabbed and the ladders overturned. Meanwhile, tho Moxican riflemen on the ground shot down tho Toxans on the roof, and tho battle raged with tho few Texans who stayed on guard behind tho barricade After an hour tho Mexicans had overpowered tho Texans and woro swarming to tho roof. The defenders retreated down the stairs, fighting every Inch of tho way. Then the doors below were beaten down with huge timbers, and with a yoll tho frenzied soldlors poured in tho opening. Tho little band of Texans was pitifully insig nificant against tho horde of Mexicans. Thoro woro yells, and gunshots and groans, in one long hideous chorus. Not one of tho Texans sank to death till ho had exhausted all his strength. Colonel Crockett stood In tho corner of tho main room, and with a cutlass slashed all who attacked him. His shirt was soaked with blood and a bullet had piercod his cheok. Shot by a man in front of him, ho lunged forward, sell ing his life as dearly as possible. Colonel Travis was shot through tho head while defending tho stairs. No ono was spared, and every ono of tho Texans sank to tho floor fighting. So ended the Alamo. Nearly all the information that historians have concerning the events inside tho Alamo during the siege has come from Senora Dona Andrea Castarlon do Dlllanouda, tho nurse of Colonel Bowie and tho solo survivor. The state of Texas pensioned her for forty yeaTS. t From that day the words, "Itemombor the Alamo!" were tho slogan of tho campaign throughout Texas. In less than two weeks moro than 600 fron tiersmen, maddened by the massacre, joined Sam Houston's army. A month later Houston, with a forco of 700 Texans, facod Santa Anna, with 2,000 soldiers, on tho banks of tho San Jacinto. Tho battlo was only an hour long. The Texas force, with a mighty and exultant yell, "Remember tho Alamo!" routed tho enemy and captured Santa Anna, who barely escaped death. Texan Independence was then established. Omaha Daily News. THE FOE WITHIN Solomon enriched ethical literature with a multitude of wise sayings, but it is doubtful whether he ever expressed a great truth more strongly than he did in tho thirty-second verso of tho sixteenth chapter of Proverbs: "He that is slow to anger is better than tho mighty, and ho that ruleth his spirit than he that taken a city." Self control is tho most important ele ment in strength without it strength Is impos sible. He has little prospect of commanding others who can not control himself. The proverb says that "the man who is slow to anger is better than the mighty;" he is not only better measured by a moral standard, but he is greater in any conflict between the two. When a man lose his temper he gives his adversary a great advantage. Thero is a very comforting thought embodied in the assurance that it is better to rule one's spirit than to take a city. With the coming of that universal peace which all "must desire the opportunity for taking a city or for winning distinction by arms will disappear, but there is an unending conflict in which every human being must engage from the timo he reaches the years of accountability until he dies, that conflict between man's better impulses and his lower nature. Here victory is all-important, and it is encouraging to know that a triumph In this arena is not lees glorious than a triumph characterized by slaughter and bloodshed. Few tc rapidly diminishing few can hope to lay siege to a city, but everyone can declare war against the foes within and battle with the. enemies that are to be found in his own flesh. JMiiMto&W'iAMMkLu io