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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1912)
V: n . 'VOLUME" 12 NUMBER 12 4 l-X HI m :i h I iK lam 13 IIlv. If .1 our Inst nominee for president nnd vice prosi dont, Mr. Bryan mid Mr. Kern, diroctod their commlltoo io mako dully reports before tlio election of all campaign funds received. Our republican friends, driven by the great force of public opinion, placed upon the statute books a law for tho publication of campaign funds after tho election. Today upon the statute books is written Ibis democratic law for tbe publicity of campaign funds beforo as well as after the oloctlon. Tho democratic party stood for tho reform of tho tariff. Wo declared that tho tariff was a tax and it was paid by tho consumer, that the pro tective tariff was tho bulwark behind which monopoly Is taking refuge to pilfer and to plun der the pockets of the American people. Wo wcro entrusted with power; wo passed through tho liouso and through tho senate and up to tho president a bill that reduced tho tariff upon woolen goods practically fifty per cent, which would have meant a saving to tho American peoplo upon the woolen goods purchased by them of two hundred million dollars annually. Tho president of tho United States declared that Schedule K, which this bill sought to reform, was indefensible, that it was too high, that It ought to bo rovised, but that they were unable to do so because it was interlinked with all tho tariff schedules, and that in order to defeat this ho would havo to defeat all tho others. Wo passed up to him a woolen schedulo alone. The Amorlcan peoplo had hope. This tax, the woolen tax, is tho most Indefensible of all that are levied upon tle American consumer. It is a tax col lected not only by tho woolen manufacturer over tho counters, but it is a tax collected at tho drug stores and at tho undertaking estab lishments. The democratic parly had tho woolen trust soized by tho throat. Tho trust cried out to the president and ho unloosed the clutch by votoing this bill and returned it to congress upon tho ground that ho had no tariff board re port. That is, that ho had no information him self, and because ho knew nothing about it, ho had a right to assumo that nobody else did and that tho woolen trust should continuo to rob tho American peoplo. When 1 was engaged in my campaign for tho senatorship from Ken tucky, tho democratic primary was called for July 1st and 1 rode a thousand miles to make tho light not only for this reduction but a fight for freo wool. I was told by some friends that I had mado a mistake. They said to mo, "Don't you know there aro S00,000 sheep in Kentucky and that tho owners of all theso sheep will bo at tho primaries to fight you?" I said, "I know tlioro aro 800,000 sheep in Kentucky, but I am not lighting for them, I am fighting for the three millions of men, women and children who wear woolen cloths." Then tho fight came up to pass this bill over tho president's veto. I led tho debate in advocacy of its passago, his veto to tho contrary notwithstanding; and when I arose to spoak I looked about and 1 saw on tho re publican side four cabinet officers who wero there as a lobby in tho- interest of tho president's veto. Wo lacked only eleven votes of having the necessary two-thirds to pass tho bill over the president's veto, and today tho woolen trust stands hidden behind, not a majority of tho peoplo's representatives, but behind eleven more than one-third of tho representatives of tho American people picking tho pockots of Ameri can consumers. Wo passod tho farmers' and laborers free list bill, giving freo meat and bread to hungry mouths, and giving free, untaxed farming imple- - monts to tho tillers of American soil, and giving free lumber to tho homeless of the republic. .This bill was so just that it found its way through the senate, controlled by the opposition and went to tho president. It was vetoed and hiding today behind, not a majority, but a few moro than one-third, stands tho beef trust the .harvester trust and the lumber trust, picking tho pockots of American consumers. And so it nrathIltTTl t11;o1Bt?loloduftlon"W11- Tho president of tho United States who now seeks re-election has the. lone distinction of being tho only presi dent n all tho life of our republic- who ever vetoed a bill that cheapened clothing to the shivering poor, that cheapened farming imple ments to tho toiling mon of America, that cheap ened lumber to the homeless of our and. When ho exercised this right of veto, he denied tho people tho .right of solf-govornment and puMite will above their will. No .wonder C VSfraid ntrnfV? J Fl U Bll0Wn that heis afraid to trust a majority, but is willing to trust a few, more than one-third ,of the represonta- , tlyes of the peoplo. Tho king of England in i iW U Is an inheritance from rovakv whlcfc has long since, been, .discarded iy The Commoner and tho exercise of tho veto would meanNthe loss of tho crown to any British king. Theso great trusts and combinations that have grown up in our country, protected by a high tariff, have become so impudent, so arrogant that they claim they havo a vested right. But. tho democratic party takes tho position that no wrong ever had a vested right, and no vested right in favor of monopoly is greater than tho peoplo's right. Justice Harlan of Kentucky, now of blessed memory, differed with me politically, but on the shaft that shall tell the traveler where ho rests I should like to see inscribed theso words: "Ho wrote tho dissenting opinion in tho income tax case and ho held that no monopoly could be reasonable." Tho American people are not going to bo content with divid ing tho army of pillage into various marauding bands. Monopoly must be destroyed. This is their demand. Some gentlemen arguo that monopoly in tho hands of a few cheapens goods for tho benefit of all, but 1 would call their attention to tho fact that while they inveigh terrifically against socialism, they must re member that their own position is the strongest argument in favor of socialism that was ever advanced; because if a monopoly in the hands of a few is beneficial to all, a monopoly in tho hands of all for the benefit of all would be bet ter for all. Competition is now, as It must always be, the life of trade. Tho people of the United States call for a candidate for tho presidency who has the cour age to say to labor, "you must obey the law," and tho courage to say to capital, "and you must obey the law." What would the people say if labor, with its sooty faces and its rough hands, should approach the president and say, "unless you let us violate the law, we will destroy property by tho use of dynamite and other violence." Every man worthy of the name of an American would expect tho president to rise to his full height and demand obedience to the law, and if necessary, to call for every soldier and every patriot to sustain him. But pray tell me what is the difference between labor's de mand of a right to violate the law and that of capital approaching the president with its mil lions upon millions of gold saying to him, "un less you let us violate the law, we will destroy property, not by dynamite, riot by physical violence, but by panic, by noiseless method, by tho stock exchange." The only difference I can see is the one is noisy and the other is noise less. The one would take life by physical violence, tho other makes the fellow whose for tune is wrecked do it himself. What we need in this republic is a president who has the courage not to go to Africa to kill wild beasts, but who has the courage to stand up and fight tho bulls and bears of Wall street that threaten the safety of this republic. I would no more give monopoly the right to control reasonably and to monopolize reasonably than I would give tho poor tho right to steal reasonably. God never made a human being or set of them good enough to havo a monopoly. If I had unlimited right to write a tariff bill I would write it this way: I would place the taxes first upon the luxuries of life; if that did not produce enough revenue, I would place them next upon tho comforts. of life; if the two to gether did not produce enough, I would then, and not until then, lay them upon the necessi ties of life I think that those who are pros perous and comfortable- would be happy to de fray the expenses of a government in which thev havo been so successful rather than to pinch the ones who are fighting to keep the wolf of want from the doo.r. I would rather give -plenty to the ones who are in want than to give nroflt to the tariff barons of tho country.6 I ZT rather give a soft bed and three square meals mi?fB J.0 t0il than t0 glve luafterl? divid ends to their oppressors. I would rather Sve - .".protection to tho .home against the trust than to give protection to the trjist to ivado the home." 1 would rather give an opportunifv m own ttolrmomfif to forty?five SllfiSho .no homos in .this country, which i ii !I SSffifr ittPpy lan' to glverotec3- JKS WJ f0r hls nome.but &ld7er e? died defending a tenement. Wo offered ihl People-Jree.lumber..Tho homeless looked Jif? Hope thermions of liltle childn ww a ?nS to have a yard of their own in whioh t J5 . Tho bill passed the house by oie hundrod Dority, their hearts, beat-faster- tS "; m?" passed it, and theh.victory was Sntc-fiffo W0 In theif dreams little cdttfeTcommenopn t.g lt:' up and dot the, land owned bvS n? rIs . blasted when 3wt vet Slti&hV msTbhy, Taft, tho cabinet. The lumber trust said to "Remember thou thy creator, etc." Tho president refers to gentlemen who want progress, who believe in reform, as "neurotics" And yet if I should be called upon to charac terize the president, I should call him a "nar cotic," and if I should "be called upon to choose between the two, I should rather be a neurotic than narcotic, because no picket was ever put to death for giving the word of alarm too early, but the narcotic who sleeps at his post is court martialed at sunrise. Tho American people today find the trust controlling -every product, and the cost of living has gono so high that it takes all their earnings. Tho battle is on against monopoly, and tho people, like the great Grecian combatant when enveloped by unnatural darkness cried out, "Dis pel these clouds tho light of Heaven restore give mo to see Ajax asks no more." So tho American people cry out against monopoly, "Destroy theso trusts, fairness of competition restore, give us this, wo ask no more." Today Theodore Roosevelt seeks to return to the presidency by proclaiming himself an advo cato of those principles he won the presidency by denouncing. But at last in this life wo must honor the one who has the courage to change his position when ho sees he is wrong. It is not so much a tribute to his swiftness in obser vation as it is to his courage to admit his mis take. I rather encourage conversion and extend the good right hand of fellowship to thoso who see the light, because it is the hope not only to redeem our country, but the way to a better world. President Taft, of course, is joined to his idol. Left-handed in both hands and always doing everything wrong, and most generally on Friday, he is the most melancholy spectacle of our national life. President Taft was selected to carry out Roosevelt's policies, but, of course, this did not fairly include Roosevelt's changes. If Colonel Roosevelt's recommendation of him self shall fall as far short as President Taft has of the recommendation Roosevelt gave him, tho people can not look with much hope to his selection. What we all fear is that Colonel Roosevelt will be as much mistaken in himself as he was in Judge Taft. But the colonel should bo willing now, after he has made such a great mistake by inflicting Taft upon the country, to apologize to the American people, join hands with the democrats, whom he defeated, and elect a real friend of the people president. I have journeyed here from the capital in order to be with you to do honor to a great American by celebrating the day of his birth. Ho today is the best loved American alive. Ho has the greatest following of any citizen in the republic, and it is all because he never drew a sword except to fight for the common weal; ho never struck a blow except for tho common good. In all the newspapers, periodicals, and maga zines, owned by greed, which are the mouth pieces of monopoly, you find no word of praiso for him. The American people have learned that you know a man not so well by the com pany which he keeps, as you know him by tho enemies he has made. When abuse shall no longer find a purchaser; when slander and libel shall no more be rewarded; when the historian in the cold, white unclouded light of fair play shall write the truth as it is, to tell the children yet unborn of the Titan who in the two last de cades of our history lead the fight for the rights of men because he loved them, who battle for their good, of one who never flinched from any blow, of one who never offered a flag of truce or compromise to greed in any contest, o ono who has always been too busy fighting the lions and tigers in front of him to notice either tho barking or the bite of the dogs at his back, of one whose scars from fighting the battles of tho people mark not only his breast but his back when the historian shall tell of the battle for twenty years against entrenched wrong but tressed with all tho minions that fatten upon tno sweat from others' toil, the one, history will say, who contributed most to lightening the burdens of Americans, who has mado 'most for lile.uPbuildmB of society, his name vill be studded by a thousand flaming stars, and it will ? ?&ni, your own Nebraskan, the great Ameri SnU ,am J Bryan. I challenge anyone to point to his defeat upon any principle. Speak, History, who aro life's victors? Unroll thy long annals and say. Are they those whom tho world calls the vic- tors, who won the success of the day? Martyrs or Nero? Spartans who fell at Ther mopylae's tryst? Or the Persians and Xerxes? p'iie'priCKrist?, victnrd RL1 a8k ? auestlpu, ,-Wbo iSH-tho real 5 th, rePublicans vrhp got Ahe. ;dfflces, or uiyan, who won the principle? T,he ,onoJmad 222Ctfs3MW5awJKitv a " -v jCWE(PlvAMrii ' l LmW