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H41
The Commoner.
VOLUME 11, NUMBER 24
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Wy rs i Popular?
Tho Houston (Texas) Post has the habit of
referring to tho initiative and referendum as
"an old popullstic dogma." In a recent issue
tho Post printed a dispatch from its Washing
ton correspondent to tho effect that in throe
states, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida,
campaigns involving tho initiative and referen
dum are in progress. How does it happen that
this "old popullstic dogma" is attracting so
much attention and is so popular today? Tho
Post correspondent tolls us that tho considera
tion of this question by the Florida legislature
is duo to tho fact that "the people are studying
the whole question with a great display of
Interest." Tho agitation in West Virginia,
according to the Post's correspondent, is due to
tho difficulty over tho election of senators at
tho recent session, and so strong Is the senti
ment in that state that the legislature has been
called in special session for tho purpose of enact
ing n, direct primary law and providing for
direct nomination and election of senators ac
cording to tho Oregon plan. Even in Pennsyl
vania corporation-controlled Pennsylvania
tho peoplo show a deep interost concerning the
initiative and referendum. Referring to
Pennsylvania, tho Post correspondent says:
"Tho judiciary committeo of the senate and
house of representatives of Pennsylvania oc
casioned much surprise last week by reporting
favorably upon resolutions in each house pro
viding for the submission of an Initiative and
referendum amendment to tho state constitu
tion. "When the initlativo and referendum fight
was taken up in the Pennsylvania legislature
two months ago, the progressives under the
leadership of state grange officers and leaders
of tho Keystone party worked vigorously for
tho adoption of tho resolution. The progres
siva republican league sent Senator Clapp, one
of its members;Bto address the judiciary com
mittee, while tho democratic federation sent
Senator Owen to perform a similar service.
While it is not expected, that the initiative and
reforondum resolution will be adopted by the
Pennsylvania legislature, the campaign that has
been made has brought this question squarely
to the front in that state."
There are a lot of things mighty popular to
day that have been called "old popullstic
dogmas" the income tax and tho popular elec
tion of senators for examples. Yet men of all
parties are advocating these reforms.
Tho antipathy of tho Houston Post to these
measures la not bq much that they were once
advocated by the populist party u it ia becnuoo
the Post, being the servant of special interests,
antagonizes, as a rule, the measures that are
devised to win for tho peoplo justice at the
hands of the Post's corporation masters.
IN THE DARK
Tho Philadelphia North American, while try
ing to define the meaning of "insurgency," talks
about "the populism of the early eighties and
tho Bryanism of the nineties" as having been
"beaten back in failure for reasons that will
not affect present-day reform movements."
One of the things that has prevented the
success of "other reform movements" is tho
fact that newspapers like the North American
preached reform in the off years and then sup
ported the republican ticket on election day.
The North American says that "not since Lincoln
has insurgency had true leadership until now,"
and then, undertaking to name leaders "regard
less of party labels," it selects sixteen, four of
whom are democrats and twelve of whom are
republicans.
The democratic party has a large number of
leaders who have for more than a quarter of a
century worked faithfully in the reform move
ment, but the North American seems never to
have heard of them.
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AN UNREASONABLE REASON
The bankers who opposo tho guaranty of de
posits say that ) is unfair ta make good banks
pay the depositors of bad banks. That is a
strange reason for a banker to advance. Does
the banker think it .unfair to make a good
farmer pay the debt of his insolvent neighbor?
Why does a bank require security if it is un
fair to make one man pay another man's debt?
Many a man has been driven into bankruptcy
by tho failure of some friend for whom he went
security as a matter of accommodation and with
out consideration. Why should bankers refuse
to go each other's security? The banker who
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REASON AND UNREASON
In his dissent from parts of the to
bacco trust decision, Justice Harlan says:
"The 'rule of reason,' I am sure, does
not justify the perversion of tho plain
words of an act of congress, in order to
defeat tho will of congress.
"Tho court, by judicial legislation, in
effect, amends an act of congress.
It makes congress say what it
did not say, what it plainly did not in
tend to say and what it has since ex
plicitly refused to say."
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is willing to grow rich out of "banking and yet
refuses to protect depositors from loss may bo
called honest for a few years yet but not longer.
Honesty requires guaranty of depositors, and
some day the bankers will insist upon such pro
tection to depositors as will make a certificate
of deposit as good as a government bond.
CULBERSON OP TEXAS
Senator Culberson of Texas does not mince
words in discussing. tho supreme court's trust
opinion. While approving the conclusion of the
court in the particular case, Senator Culberson
says that in his judgment the opinion delivered
by Chief Justice White is "an unfortunate one
for the country," and adds:
"This, opinion overrules tho decisions of the
supreme court in the traffic association cases as
well, as the many similar cases where the anti
trust act was construed 'as prohibiting all re
straint of interstate trade and all monopolies of
such trade, no matter of what character The
former construction of the act by the supreme
court had been accepted and acted upon for
years and congress, though often urged to do
so, refused to amend the act to accord with the
view taken by the court.
"This construction, moreover, was approved
by the country except the extreme, corporate
Interests. The opinion of the majority of the
court as o the construction of the act is pure
judicial legislation for which the trusts have
been contending for fifteen years and which
will be used by them to further their combina
tions and conspiracies against trade. Hereafter,
the question will always be confused with the
supposed intent of the conspirators rather than
confined to the single issue of the actual" exis
tence of combination or monopoly.
"Tho ciussmcaxion or gooa trusts and bad
trusts has at last received the highest judicial
sanction.
"Against this I agree absolutely and thorough
ly with the dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice
Harlan and if the opinion of the chief justice
is adhered to in this and in the tobacco case
as I presume it will be, the law ought to be
amended at once so as to express beyond judi
cial interpretation that view of tho law which
has heretofore obtained and which has met tho
approval and requirements of the country."
WHY NOT REQUIRE JNOTICE
There is increasing protest against the
partnership which the federal government enters
into with law-breakers when it issues licenses
to sell liquor at retail in dry territory, but every
attempt to break up this partnership Is met
with constitutional objection. There is one line
of attack, however, to which the liquor trust
would find it difficult to make a constitutional
objection. Why' not require the publication of
notice before the issuance of federal license'
A law requiring the applicant to publish notice
of his intended application and to serve written
notice on the local executive authority would
practically put an end to- boot-legging, for no
one could afford to advertise his intention to
violate the local laws. This would, dissolve the
partnership between the government and the
law breakers.
TURN ON THE SEARCHLIGHT
A Washington dispatch, carried by the United
Press, says: "After a hearing fraught with
startling disclosures, the house committee on
expenditures in the state department was con
vinced that it is on tho trail of some -'peculiar-ways
of doing business' in that department.
"The payment of $5,000 to Frederick Hale,
son of former Senator Hale of Maine, from the
boundary commission fund on the sole authority
of a blank voucher O. K.'d by Secretary Knox,
was revealed by Disbursing Officer Morrison!
Tho committeo issued another subpoena for
Knox, and he will be asked to explain the pay
ment to Hale.
"Morrison also astounded the committee by
declaring that the long lost voucher on which
Chief Clerk Michael of the department was
given $2,450 to pay for a portrait costing $850
has been found by a messenger in a quantity of
waste paper on the floor of his own office a
week ago. Pinned to the voucher when it was
found, Morrison said, was a note of explanation
by Michael.
" 'Did you try to find out how the voucher
came to be on the floor of your room?' Chair
man Hamlin (dem., Mo.) asked.
" 'No, I discussed it with no one said the
witness.
" 'Don't you think it was placed there by .some
one?' asked Representative Davis (rep., Minn.)
" 'That is my impression,' returned Morrison.
"Morrison declared that he had turned over
the voucher to the chief clerk of the department,
who had asked for it.
"Under a hot cross-examination by Hamlin
and Davis, Morrison declared he had never re
ceived a' receipt for the money from Michael.
"O. H. Tittman, superintendent of the geodetic
survey and chairman of the boundary committee,
testified that his $20,000 appropriation had in
some way been raised to $25,000 and the addi
tional .$5,000 had been paid to Hale. He knew
nothing of the payment and no explanation was
made to him."
Would it not be the part of wisdom for the
people to bring about a change in administra
tion of federal affairs in order that the search
light may bo turned on in every department of
government.
GOOD CITIZENSHIP DAY
Rev. Thomas M. Evans of Fullerton, Neb., has
sent to newspapers and prominent men through
out the country the following letter:
As superintendent of Christian citizenship in
the Nebraska Christian Endeavor Union No. 1,
I am seeking to promote a high-,t standard of
citizenship among all classes. It has occurred
to me that a day, to be known as "Good Citizen
ship Day," would greatly advance said citizen
ship. In order to secure a general consensus of
opinion concerning the movement, I am this
day sending out more than 100 personal letters
to our foremost statesmen, clergymen, editors
and reformer, ao that we may have in the very
beginning of the movement the influence of the
leading men and women of the nation.
Much has already been done along this line.
The flag, as its floats over the schoolhouse; the
observance of Washington's and Lincoln's birth
days; also of Thanksgiving and Memorial day
and the Fourth of July all create sentiment in a
right direction, although the observance of the
latter has been so secularized and given over to
sport that we do not get out of it what we
should in the development of citizenship.
We therefore suggest that the Sunday just
preceding our national birthday be known as
. "Good Citizenship Day." That day will re
move it farthest from anything like party poll
tics; it cannot well be secularized; it will not
be legalized as other holidays. It will simply
be observed as a custom, like Mothers' Day.
It will be a day for children's programs, in
the interest of the citizenship of this nation,
whose God is the Lord; a day on which from
"loyal hearts and true" shall be sung those
songs which helped our fathers to build "truer
and better than they knew;" a day on which
new songs shall clear away many discordant
notes now in our national life and impress upon
the minds of our youth and the incoming mil
lions the principles which have made the United
States of America preeminently the leader of
the nations in the cause of civic righteousness.
CONSISTENT
Commending Mr. Underwood for his attacks
on Mr. Bryan and denouncing Mr. Bryan for
his attitude on public questions, the Richmond
Times-Dispatch (in another editorial in the
same issue) says: "The direct election of sena
tors is one of the fads of the politicians of this
later day, and once the people have had the
opportunity of studying this question, now that
their representatives in their legislatures are to
?!2.UD!!n ' We believe that they will prefer to
aoioe by the old ways and refuse to give their
?!?JPporV t0 a measure which takes a great deal
rrom the states and gives the people of the
having " ' absolutely nothing, that is worth
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