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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1912)
The Commoner. TTAUT 1 1SU 5 wmmTi mmmt 8wSSK wpj&aWU M so widely controlled that th public interest never do in jeopardy. le SDeech Itself was nnimmirtant. bnt th .ture of the performance which should bo in- ictive to tne public was that Mr. vreeland, the edification of the house, essayed to point what are the defects of the present system Ich the Aldrich nlan is to correct. He declared it to bo necessary before con- ering the remedies to consider these defects, 'illRA. ofhfir-w4RA. thn hniino nnd ti mthlln idKlld not annrnolato how thorouch nr Mia yfi'l Jwnedies proposed or how much they are maided. When Mr. Vreeland concluded the Wlfcole house annlauded. the domocrfitR mnnlfpf- Sas hearty approval of the speech as did the et it will be shown tomorrow nicht that. lie the agents and representatives of cen lized money control believe they can ad ce thpir own purpose to force through the rich bill by pretending a frank dfisp.rlnt.inn the actual defects of the present banking tem, including some suggestion of the exis tce of a money trust, the moment there I a oposal that a real Investigation of these de- is do inaae publicly and In the in vest of the public, it is regarded aa an n. ChlStiC TirOnORltfOTT wlllnVl tniiaf ho faaiatnA ,ir a overwhelming maioritv of the fipmnnmfa 'The country has heard a great deal about bi partisan control of legislation for the benefit of pecial privilege, but it has never heard this bipartisan control more thnronchiv fiomnn. trated, since the necessary number of demo crats voted with the "old guard republicans at .the beginninc of the lash nnncroaa nni.nnfnnfn Jfinnonism. Kopresentative Henry today- made public a litter he had received from former Representa- e rowier, or wew Jersey, former chairman the banking and curreno.v mmmn-too tmi gper said: "No one was ever engaged in more ;fwhteous catlRe Minn vnu Tf TOin i1n ,.j, f&,.,nsLtf tlle, American people not to pass your rwwolution.'' - 'WJ&? also save out a letter from Arthur Still JmJ president of the Kansas City, Mexico and tf&vmx: ", "v."u'ib tuo aibi,bih;o Ul LllO LHw.r uubl uuu uescnuing its menace to the oruxc muriuan people. , ( 8 ILftaai tVi MiScSjali "jvTctbSb AX . GENERAL JAMES B. WEAVER There will be general regret among men of I parties because of the death of fipnnmi .Tnmoa B. Weaver of Iowa. Under the headline, "A gjuigmer ivanen, tne Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph xieraiu prims tne ronowing: C "An agitator," some one has said "a n mnn 'who refuses to accept old lies." Gen. James 3. Weaver was pre-eminently an agitator. If crusader be preferred as a more fitting term, let mm oe caueu a crusaaer. Wherever the general was he found need of fighting. Maelstroms suited well his temperament when he was in the very center of them. He stood where the battle raged fiercest, straight as the pine grows, grim visaged, his jaw set, his eyes flashing. When he spoke it was in language chaste, in voice rich and mellifluous, with emphasis mark ing his every period. Whatever the subject discussion touched upon, the general had ideas about it his own ideas and unfavoring wind nor circumstance could repress his "expression of them. He was captain of his own bark, the master of his own soul, and the play he had given it since early youth made his an uncon querable spirit. He never measured things by the rule of expediency. Whatever was morally right must be practical. Such was the general's philosophy. If others hesitated to speak even in whispers he dared to thunder from the house tops. He had faced the cannon's mouth nor felt tremor in his muscles. He had willingly put his existence in the balance, and thus schooled to subordinate life itself to principle, he feared nothing earthly. He was a man unafraid of all but God. To Him alone he bowed subjection. The general was deeply religious. His last pub lic appearance was as a lay preacher. He dis covered, he said, that the masses of the people were hungry for word of Chrisf and he found pleasure in going about from place to place tell ing the story of the Nazerene. General Weaver was on the picket line through all of life. He was a political trail blazer. As victory for principle is won con structive minds ta"ke up the task of fitting the machinery to the need. Inevitably there is com promise. For this task the general was unsuited ho hated compromise. Thus it came about that when those who followed him were appor tioning the fruits of victory, he was off on some new tack. His eyes searched the future, and Martin Dies Attacks Mr. Bryan Following is an Associated Press dispatch: Washington, Fob. 10. William Jennings Bryan was held up to the house as the "evil genius hovering on the flanks of democracy" by Repre sentative Martin E. Dies of Texas, who spoke in reply to The Commoner's latest attack on the democratic membership of the house. Democrats and republicans alike cheered Mr. Dies' declaration that ho "noithor feared the power nor respected the judgment" of the Ne- braskau, and his further announcement that democracy, under the leadership of Champ Clark and Oscar W. Underwood, was headed toward complete success swept the democratic side of the house into storms of applause. "I am almost ready to join Governor Wilson in his desire to find some decent and orderly manner of 'knocking Mr. Bryan into a cocked hat,' " said Mr. Dies amidst a roar of demo cratic laughter and applause. Mr. Dies' attack on Mr. Bryan followed Hie latter's declaration in the last issue of The Commoner that the thirteen democrats who voted against a recent amendment in the house to require publicity of all recommendations to the president on judgship appointments were "unworthy to roprcscnt a democratic constitu ency." Mr. Dies doclared that if Mr. Bryan had spent as much time "reading law ns ho had attack ing democrats in public life, ho would huvo known that tho proposed law would bo uncon stitutional and an Infringement of tho presi dent's rights." "Mr. Bryan has led tho do-nocrats through three disastrous defeats," cried Mr. Dies. "Like tho bourbons of old, ho has learned nothing and forgot on nothing. Iio points our column straight to tho rocks of St. Helena. "The people are ready to give us more power. In this situation, it is a calamity, if not a crime, for Mr. Bryan to sow seeds of discord In tho ranks of tho party. "Whatever wo do displeases him. Tho pros pect of democratic success seems to anger his very soul. I prefer to follow tho leadership of tho gentleman from Alabama. I have followed tho Don Quixote of Nebraska until I am weary ing of a war upon windmills. I demand to bo led against tho flesh and blood enemies of de mocracy." The conclusion of Representative Dies' attack was marked by general applause and tho clus tering about him of democratic colleagues who shook his hands. his steps carried him along new paths that needed clearing of obstructions in tho way of common men bent by the weight of burdens im posed by privilege. If there was inconsistency in tho general's partisanship, there was consistency in his devo tion to principle. Between the republican party of Lincoln and the republican party of McKinley and Taft there is the difference between democ racy and p'utocracy. The general was a Lin coln republican and tho proof of his intellectual integrity is that he was a Bryan democrat. A greenbacker he naturally -was an advocate of the quantitative theory of money which under laid the demand for the free and unlimited coin age of silver at the ratio of 1G to 1. A pro hibitionist he naturally balked at and bolted a platform declaration favorable to license of the liquor traffic. A populist,' and that party dis membered, ho naturally graviated to the radicals. It is hie:h praise but just withal to say of the general that he was one of tho original insur gents. He insurged against slavery he was an abolitionist. He insurged against privilege wherever it showed its head and fought wrong as his moral perception disclosed it to him. If there be higher eulogium to pay the memorv of a man the reason it is not here expressed is that the mind can not frame the language for the pen to write. To say of one gone to meet his Maker that he left behind him a record of ser vice is to say that he fulfilled the purpose of his creation, and that tho world commends him to the favor of his Father. nOW THEY LOOK AT IT TN OHIO From the Piqua (Ohio) Daily Leader-Dispatch: Within the past few months straw votes have been taken upon preferences for presi dent by various papers and persons in different parts of tho country and all show an unmistak able trend toward progressive democracy. In the poll taken by the Indianapolis Star out of a total vote of 9,360 votes cast for Bryan, Kern, Wilson, Marshall, Harmon, Clark and Folk, Har mon received but ICG votes less than 2 per cent. In tho poll taken by the Denver News in which 9,387 votes were cast, Harmon received but 436 votes, or less than 5 per cent. In the poll taken by the Indianapolis Star Bryan led with 3,403. votes followed by Kern with 3,128, Wilson 1,629, Marshall 723, Clark 96, Folk 93, scattering, 12"2. In the Denver News poll Wilson led with 3,473, followed by Bryan with 2,999, and Clark with 1,714, Marshal 303, Folk 214, Underwood 191, scattering 57. In Ohio where Harmon ought to run well, if anywhere, he is not able to even poll a majority of the votes. For instance, in the Ohio constitu tional convention, a body composed of repre sentative democrats from all parts of the state, out of 63 votes Harmon received but 30, while Bryan received 17, Wilson 10, Clark 5 and Folk 1, making a field of 33 as against 30 for Har mon. The Harmon press bureau is responsible for a straw vote given out from Wayne and Delaware county, and in these counties the vote was as follows: Wayne county, Harmon 471, Bryan 342, Wilson 106, Clark 23, Folk 14, Mar shall 11, Underwood 4., making a total of f00 in. the field as against 471 for Harmon in Wayne county. In Delaware county Harmon received 73 while Wilson received 42, Bryan 35, and Clark 3, a total of 80 as against Harmon's 73. These two counties were given out by Harmon's press bureau for what reason wo do not know because it does not prove anything in Harmon's favor. But they omitted to give Summit county in which county out of 1,408 votes Harmon re ceived but 471, Bryan received 693, Wilson 62, Marshall 121, Clark 32, Folk 29. In other words the field aggregated 927 votes against 471 for Harmon, almost two to one. It will bo remembered that in a poll of the students of 11 of the colleges and universities in Ohio, of tho 1,088 votes cast for democratic candidates only 245 wore for Harmon and the remaining 843 wore for Clark, Wilson and Bryan. At the Jefferson club picnic held In August, 1911, out of 2,200 votes polled Harmon received but 400, while tho remainder were divided among Bryan, Wilson, Clark, and a few scat tering. A Toledo and Cleveland newspaper took a joint vote in November, 1911, on preferences for the democratic nomination with tho result that Harmon received but 28 por cent of tho votes cast while the remaining 71 per cent were divided among Wilson, Clark, Bryan and scat tering. All of these taken from various parts of the country show that the people are determ ined that tho next president shall bo a progres sive and Judson Harmon Is not that man. IN ONTO J. Clinton Long of Versailles, Ohio, has Issued the following statement: I shall be a candidate for delegate to tho democratic national convention, from tho Fourth Ohio congressional district, and in order that no voter may be deceived in casting his vote for me I make the following statement: If I am elected delegate I shall cast my vote for W. J. Bryan if he Is a candidate, and shall continue to vote for him so long as he is a candidate. My second choice for president Is Joseph W. Folk of Missouri. My third choice Is Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey. Under no circumstances would I vote for Governor Harmon for the democratic nomina tion. To nominate and elect Harmon would bo to turp the wheels of progressive democracy backward twenty years. I kindly solicit the support of all progres sive democrats. I am, yours for the election of a progressive democrat in 1912. J. CLINTON LONG. vi; WILL YOU JOIN IN THE EFFORT TO INCREASE THE COMMONER'S CIR- OULATION FOR 1912? TAKE IT UP AT ONCE WITH YOUR NEIGHBOR. 0000 ii gtiHfr"!i!jM a-ilfci.. t-tm