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The Commoner.
NOVEMBER , 1911
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and dominate the wholo that society must rtso
In Its might and restore the proper balance."
"Money is at the bottom of all misrepresen
tations. Not money put into hands not bribes.
That's old-fashioned and crude. But it is ac
complished by warning men that If they do not
do as they are told they can't get money
for their business. If they do not do as
they &to told, they can't get accommoda
tions at the bank. The man who does not do
as he is told is not invited to places; he bo
comes not only a political but a social outcast.
"What is called radicalism in our day is de
rived from the Latin word which means a root.
It means simply going to the root of things. It
means not being contented with merely trim
ming the branches off the tree, but going to the
root of it, renewing and enriching the soil and
snaking good those things from which the whole
tree is drawn'
"The radical In our time takes leave to open
nis eyes wide and see things as they are. In
order to be rational, you must see all of the
facts, and a reasonable radical is the only kind
worth talking to. To be an unreasonable radi
cal Is just as bad as to bo an unreasonable
reactionary. The whole thing is a process of
insight."
"It must not be a process of revenge, of
class hatred, or waiting to get back at other
men for this or that. You don't cure one wrong
by another wrong."
The North American adds: "When we ven
tured to compare Governor Wilson's public
utterances with those of two of America's
greatest sons, we had in mind not only the
forceful clarity of the English that he uses, the
utter lack of ambiguity or equivocation, the far
lighted, tolerant treatment of all opponents and
the earnest patriotism so evident in speech
utterly devoid of oratorical trickery. We noted
also the frequent, Instructive lapsing from digni
fied discussion into homely metaphor and telling
epigram. As a final sidelight upon the char
acter and courage and purposes of the man "who
within a year has moved from scholastic seclu
sion Into the position of one of the foremost
public men of the time, we think the fact that
the following verses by Edward Rowland Sill
is the favorite poem of Governor .Wilson, Is
significant to all who are watching nis career:"
t ' , . itii , t
. OPPORTUNITY
This I beheld er dreamed It In a dream;
There spread a cloud of dust along the plain,
And underneath the cloud, or In It raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and aworda
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's
Wavered, then staggered backward, hommed by
foes.
& craven hung along the battle's edge
And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel-
That blue blade that the king's son bears but this
TBlunt thing!" he snapped and flung It from his
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king's son wounded, soro bestead
And weaponless and saw the broken sword,
Hilt burled In the dry and trodden sand,
nd ran and snatched It, and with battle shout
Ifted afresh, he hewed the enemy down,
jhd saved a great cause that herole day. - T
Philadelphia North American. 1
ORGANIZE ONE EVERYWHERE .
' Seattle, Wash., October 30. A new political
lactor in the state of Washington is the Young
Men's Democratic club of Seattle, organized
October 21st. The club starts with a large
membership, and an enrollment of one thousand
members Is expected within the next bIx months.
It U intended to he a permanent Institution.
Headquarters will soon be opened, and the club
Soaks forward eventually to a building of it
own.
The Young Men's Democratic club of Seattle)
Fill encourage the formation of similar clubs In
other cities; and. If a sufficient number of thess
are organized, a state league of Young Men's
Democratic clabs will be organized. This would
serve to revivify the party.
J. F. Roy Erford, a young Seattle lawyer, who
fr president of the club, looks for a demo era tie
-victory In Doth nation and state. "Progressive
principles are democratic principles," says Mr.
Erford. "Young' men are naturally progres
sive, consequently eighty per cent of them are
democrats in principle, although most of them
jrote the republican ticket Some of these do
Bot realize that they are democrats; others do
ot wish to acknowledge that they are demo
crat because of the lure of the loaves and fishes
that have been heretofore plentiful in the re
.ublican camp, so they call themselves progres
Jtye republican. We are out to show the young;
Some Interesting Replies to Cardinal Gibbons
and Archbishop Ireland
"Under tho headline, "Contrasting Opinions,"
the Dubuquo (Iowa) Telegraph-Herald, editod
by a Catholic layman, says:
Having heard from Cardinal Gibbons and
Archbishop Ireland that to adopt the initiative,
referendum and recall would be to open the
way to "tho mob" rule, lot us turn to an utter
ance by the late Justice Harlan whose opinions
carried a weight attaching to no other justice
of tho supremo court, by virtue of his charactor
and his length of service. Speaking in New
York shortly bofore his death Justice Harlan
said:
"Tho people mean what Is right, and the
most certain thing In all the public affairs of
this country is that If you give tho people time
to think and discuss all the public questions
fully and fairly before them, their final Judg
ment Is better than the judgment of any political
convention."
It may be asked If what Justice HaTlan said
is true and, if it is true, why it Is true that the
final judgment of the people Is better than the
final judgment of a political convention. The
answer Is that selfishness is more likely to in
fluence delegates in a political convention than
the mass of the people. Who know anything
of politics know that the personal equation is
the largest factor la It Self-preservation is the
first law of nature, and the tendency of men is
to ask themselves, "How will this affect mo?"
and not "How will this affect my people?" If
we can devise In this country machinery which
shall enable the people to make deciding choice
between given policies, that will best subserve
the ends of democratic government.
PROGRESS, NOT OBSTRUCTION
We take pleasure In reproducing herewith an
extract from an editorial in reply to the criti
cisms of the initiative, referendum and recall
by Cardinal Gibbons and Archbishop Ireland.
The reply is a notable one from the fact of Its
appearance In the Western World, a Catholic
weekly published at Dee Moines. It indicates
that the voice of the cardinal and the archbishop
on these matters la not only not the voice of
the church which of course, It could not be
but is not even reflective of the opinion of the
church press. We quote:
"If such things aa direct elections, Initiative and
referendum, and the recall are not to be resorted to.
What are the proper remedies? We Jcnow that
prelates of the Catholic church see the tendency
towards socialistic Ideas and doctrines in these
matters, but what are the people, te do? Laws
are made In the Interest of great trusts and
monopolies, and other laws are prevented from
feeing: enforced by the Influence of the same
conscienceless power tn this country. The multi-
?nillionaires are continuing; to pile up wealth while
he -wtLgo earners are kept poor. The workers for
wages, or salaries, have to pay Jast as much and
oftea more for the aecessaries ef life as those
Whe command fabulous fortunes and through
whose Influence over legislation and courts unjust
laws are enacted and good laws made ineffective.
"We do not hear much denunciation of tho monoy
Sower, which at times seems to control national
nd state legislative bodies. We do" not hear
sermons enough In condemnation ! tho awful
treed and the dishaaeat methods of business em
Eloyed by men who control and manipulate hmut
eta, wito combine to keop prices high and m
corner noccBsarloa. Seclallsm may bo wrong an 4
socialistic tendencies are, perhaps, to bn dnprucatod,
but the real saurees ef soclallstlo leanings among
the ecoplo of this country are to be found in the
Injustices and hardships which flow from the
rower that money gives the fow to ruio lercfnla
ures and Judges by appealing: to the cupidity of
human nature. It may bo all right te denounce
socialism, but docs it not noom that the most
effectivo way to combat this menace Is to make
war on thoso things which are turning tho people
towards socialism as towards their only hope
against Injustice?"
Tho first conclusion to bo drawn from the
temper of the Western World's editorial Is that
Its editor feels himself under no obligation to
sold up the hands of President Taft or sustain
the republican party in return for favors past,
or to come.
The second conclusion to be drawn Is that,
living among the people as one of them, facing
the same problems and enduring the same
Buffering and harassed by the same fears, the
editor of the Western World is well able to
understand their needs, their aspirations and
the processes of their thought. He Is therefore
well qualified to point the error tn a course of
hierarchical obstruction to political reform-
obstruction which offers nothing of sympathy,
guidance or help to the people.
The church In Belgium, Germany, Austria aad
Hungary has been impressed with the futlity of
the Gibbons-Ireland course. While In these
countries a course of obstruction was pursued
the church lost in membership and influence
from an opinion which became conviction in
many cases, that tt was out of sympathy with
the masses and impotent to help them in the
solution of their problems and the redress of
their grievances. The wise men of the church
In these countries saw that the best means of
combating socialism was not to deny in to to
any virtue in the movement, but to take up so
much of It that is good and seek to secure its
adoption Into law. Thus the Christian social
reform movement was born, its purpose
avowedly being to safeguard the physical wol
fare of the worker In order to promote his men
tal and spiritual welfare. Today the church In
these countries offers to Its members an alter
native to socialism in this movement. It decries
tho waste of effort in talking religion to a man
with an empty stomach and recognizes that he
Is certain to be a bettor Christian if he Is well
fed, if he Is able to provide for his children
and is given tho political means to relieve him
self of economic harassment that make him
fearful of the morrow.
This movement has boon adopted into
England, whore industrial conditions are in
fermont. The German Catholic central verein
has taken It up In the United States. As econo
mic problems here become more and moro acute,
more and more will be heard of this movement
in the United States and less and less of hierar
chical objections to political reforms deemed
necessary by progressive public opinion.
Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald.
men that the democratic party is the progres
sive party and, therefore, the young man's party,
and that every honest progressive ought to be
in the progressive party. If we succeed in this,
the democratic party will be an easy winner
In 1813.
NOTHING TO TAKE BACK
With all due deference to our good Brother
Johnson of the Waverly Democrat, we have
nothing to change or take back in -what has
been said in these columns resenting the insult
to every democrat in Ohio, when The Commoner,
intentionally, or unintentionally, omitted the
name of Governor Harmon from its list of pos
sible candidates for the democratic nominatiom
for president. If the slight was Intentional 4t
is natural for the democrats of Ohio to resent
the Insult, and if unintentional The Commoner
has had ample time and opportunity to acknowl
edge it. And we still hope it wilL Napoleon
Northwest News.
And not to be out-done in the amenities of
the profession, we beg pardon of Brother Orwis;
while we .hasten to say that ill duscussing Mr.
Bryan. and Mr. Harmon, the editor of the North
west presents a glaring inconsistency. The North
vrsst knows; that Mr. Harmon did not sup
port Mr. Bryan in 1896, and but very sparingly
ever since that year. Mr. Harmon was a Cleve
land partisan, a believer in that president's
policies and principles and Mr. Cleveland
despised and detested Mr. Bryan. Grovor Clove
land's sympathies were with tho "interests."
Mr. Bryan's were and are with the people in
their struggle against the selfishness of capital
and greed. Mr. Cleveland was dead wrong.
Mr. Bryan was right and six millions of voters
Indorsed his position.
And now because Mr. Bryan does not see fit
to stultify himself by Including in his list of
"eligible," a man who has refused him his
support for fifteen long years, who does not
believe In many ef the principles promulgated
by Mr. Bryan, almost every single dne of which
has been ultimately incorporated Into both
democratic and republican platforms since 18 9 6,
in the meantime becoming laws of the land, the
esteemed Northwest takes the astonishing po
sition that Mr. Bryan should apologize to Mr.
Harmon.
We can't see it that way and if Brother Orwlg
will name some democrats of Ohio who do not
hold office by the grace of Governor Harmon,
who de feel as he does, we'll agree to nams
five to his one who do not feel as he does.--
.Wsrerly (OUs) Democrat.
.A
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