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The Commoner.
VOLUME 12, NUMBER 4
4
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II
The Commoner.
ISSUED WEEKLY
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Entered n t I'ohioiiicq ai liinwi". ww. -.
an ncoml- im matter.
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THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Neb.
CAISNtiGIH AS A WITNESS
.That was a clover trick that Chairman Stanley
played on Mr. Carnegie when he read him the
first section of the anti-trust law and asked him
what ho thought of that as a proposed measure.
IIo thought It ahsurd and ridiculous; no wonder
tho audionco laughed when Stanley explained
that that has been tho law for more than twenty
years. Mr. Carncgio is not a brilliant success
as a witness. Tho commlttoo is restivo under
his ovaslons and wanderings. "The remoteness
of his mind from tho subject under discussion,"
as was onco said of Lord Salisbury is the chief
characteristic of tho wily Scot. But they aro
getting something he admitted recommending
Mr. Knox, his Steel trust attorney to President
McKinley for attorney general. A little light
is thus thrown on tho methods employed by
predatory wealth to control tho government.
And how quickly tho subsidized press rush into
dofensivo explanations!
FIGHTING IN MISSOURI
. Following is an Associated Press dispatch:
St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 2S. Virgil Rule, chairman
of Speaker Clark's campaign committee, to
night addressed a letter to Lon Sanders, cam
paign managor for Former Governor Joseph
W. Folk, in which ho refused to appoint two
Clark supporters to meet with Folk suppotors
to provide for a divided delegation at tho
Baltimoro convention.
Rulo called attention to the statements issued
by Folk and Clark a short time ago in which
thoy agreed to abide by tho decision of tho
delogatoB at the stato convention at Joplin, each
declaring ho would refuse to permit his name to
bo used as a presidential possibility if his op
ponent was indorsed by tho delegation.
Tho letter was written in reply to one by
Sanders in which ho urged both camps to adopt
"William J. Bryan's Idea of harmony and agreo
on somo plan for a divided delegation at tho
national convention.
ROBERT BURNS
Robert Burns was born Jan. 25, 1759. On
Jan. 25, 1912, tho Chicago Tribune printed
tho following tribute from S. P. Prowse, Peoria,
111: With spendthrift hand ho gavo his largess
of poetic loro that those who crouched In fear
might stand oroct on freedom's summit undis
mayed. Upon the distant peaks of faroff years
ho saw, through prophet's keen and penetrative
glanco, tho dawning of tho brotherhood of man.
Ho mado tho littlo rivers of his native land
historic streams. In ovory mountain-sheltered
loch ho saw tho bright reflection of his country's
glorious past. He know that tyranny could
never scale her heathor heights while sons re
tained tho pride derived from patriotic sires
Auld Scotia's rugged cliffs and smiling braes
and ! -brier-scented dolls, tho rustling barley
fields that caught but could not hold the sun
sets varied hues, the strident call of curlew
wtmnjr ueora m gatnering mist, the blithesome
wiiu umi tunned Mb morning note of
A. A.
ouse
D
eman
ds
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I
ubiicity on- juqicia
Appointments
Following is an Associated Press dispatch:
"Washington, Jan. 24. Publication by the
president of every written or verbal indorse
ment of candidates for all federal judicial
judgeships from the supremo court down, prior
to the appointment of the judges, would be re
quired by a bill passed by the house today after
a lively struggle. The requirement was added
by Representative Cullop of Indiana, as an
amendment to the Evans bill, which would
abolish the federal circuit judgeship at Chicago
made vacant by the resignation of Judge Peter
S. Grosscup and supplant it with an additional
district judgeship.
"Republican Leader Mann demanded a sepa
rate roll call on tho Cullop amendment, which
was adopted, 148 to 82. Mr. Mann then led a
fight against the entire bill and lost, 93 to 147.
Tho Cullop amendment reads:
" 'Hereafter, before the president shall ap
point any district, circuit or supreme judge, he
shall make public all indorsements made in be
half of any applicant.' "
This is a good bill and it ought to pass. Mr.
Taft has been repeatedly challenged by Mr.
Bryan to make public verbal and written
recommendations upon which he appointed men
to the bench and ho also urged the senate
to require the president to file a statement of
these remommendations at the time he sub
mits the name of Justice Harlan's successor.
The senate ought now to pass this house bill.
Tho following reproductions from The Com
moner will be interesting at this time:
Extract from Commoner editorial October 6,
1911: "But, speaking of challenges, here's one
for the president: Mr. Bryan challenges him
to make public the written and verbal recom
mendations upon which he appointed Justice
White to the position of chief justice over
Justice Harlan and the recommendations, writ
ton and verbal, on which ho appointed the jus
tices whom he has placed on the supreme bench.
Did he know how they stood on tho trust ques
tion or was it PURELY ACCIDENTAL that ALL
of his appointees took the trust side of the
question? Ho signed a publicity bill that re
quires publicity as to campaign contributions.
Why not have a littlo publicity as to the in
fluences that control the appointment of United
States judges?"
Extract from Commoner editorial October 13,
1911: "Now that Mr. Perkins discloses the
REASON for Governor Hughes' appointment to
vH.w.. ucuu, win rresiueui rait tell US
appintments to the supreme court.' 'That
answer,' said Mr. Taft, 'reminds me of the story
of the Irishman who inquired: 'Tell me, was
your grandmother a monkey?' ' " But The
Commoner has not asked Mr. Taft for his 'mo
tives' in his appointments to the supreme court.
It has asked Mr. Taft to make public the writ
ten and verbal recommendations upon which ho
appointed Justice White to the position of chief
justice over Justice Harlan and the recommen
dations, written and verbal, on which he ap
pointed Justice Hughes, now famous as 'the
rule of reason' originator. Did Mr. Taft know
how these justices stood on the trust question
or was it purely accidental that all his appoin
tees took the trust side of the question? If Mr.
Taft will make public these recommendations
the people will be in a position to pass accurate
judgment as to his 'motives.' In the meantime
Mr. Taft need not be surprised if his refusal to
give the people publicity as to the influences
behind the successful candidates for justices
of the supreme court is interpreted to mean that
the men who persuaded Mr. Taft to appoint
these gentlemen were the beneficiaries of tho
decision whereby Viq Sherman anti-trust law
was destroyed."
Extract from Commoner editorial October 27,
1911: "TO THE PRESIDENT: You are about
to select a successor to the late Associate Jus
tice John M. Harlan. This will be the fifth
associate justice chosen by you, not fo mention
the privilege you had of naming the chief jus
tice. The Commoner has repeatedly urged you
to make public the recommendations, written
and verbal, upon which you appointed Justices
Lurton, Hughes, Van Devanter, Lamar and
Chief Justice White. While you are makiug
up your mind as to the advisability of comply
ing with this suggestion you will have oppor
tunity of giving complete publicity with respect
to the selection of Justice Harlan's successor.
The Commoner suggests that you make public
all the recommendations, written and verbal,
given you with respect to the appointment of
an associate justice to take Justice Harlan's
place. You can not fail to observe the high esti
mation the people place upon the public services
of Justice Harlan. You can not be unmindful
of their anxiety that his successor be a man
upon whom the special interests may not count
in the rendering of judicial decrees. The people
are watching this appointment, Mr. President.
Will you take them into your confidence?"
Commoner editorial November 10. 1911: "If
President Taft persists in his refusal to make
upon whoso recommendation Governor Hughes Public the recommending , h
was appointed?" mfiT1t- nf fha .. A T .
.. w Buuv-caoui lu justice Jtianan tuen
Extract from Commoner editorial October 20,
1911: "The Associated Press report of Mr!
Taft's meeting at Tacoma, Wash., October 11th,
says: 'The president referred sarcastically to
his challenge to publicists and jurists and
'others who don't deserve. the name' to find a
loophole for illegal trusts in the Sherman anti
trust law under the supreme court's Standard
Oil and Tobacco decisions. The only answer to
tho challenge, ho said, was tho Yankee one
to tho question, 'Tell me your motives in
your
the progressive democrats and republicans in
the United States senate have an opportunity to
render distinct service to popular government.
When the president sends to the senate tho
name of Justice Harlan's successor let the pro
gressive democrats and republicans demand
that the president submit to the senate a state
ment of tho verbal and written recommenda
tions upon which tho appointment was made.
This is an opportunity which the senate ought
not to permit to go by."
praiso, and the mavis' benediction in the
thicket s green retreat, wore freely used to touch
the golden harp of song and stir with hope tho
languid souls of listening men.
He deeply sinned and suffered, and yet it in
not ours to judge his will's perversion and Ms
blood 8 excess. His great unquestioned genius
not his obliquity, concerns mankind. Borne
down by poverty that could not bend his ind
nr S, WlU' and forced to bar tho open alight
oUn 2n ?T J?0 dId not clalm UIm thett!
wTth ISH,?8?111 clalmei him first. Since then,
wL5 nitUde ald pride- loly and tho
wCsLf UJnarly trlbut0 to tte re Bard
wWchniH 8tweetest strains the notes of
Tonf Bhce0 rUnd orId uatU
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