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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 10, 1912)
MAY 10, 1912 The Commoner. A Real Investigation of the Money Trust Special dispatch to tho New York Tribune: Washington, April 22. William Jennings Bryan, Samuel Untermyer and politicial expedi ency have won out in the democratic house, and "the money devil" is to be chased to its lair with all the fervor originally urged by Repre sentative Henry at least, until after election. Following a bitter fight in the banking and cur rency committee, Representative Pujo, tho chairman, has brought in a resolution confer ring additional authority on the committee in its proposed probe of the "money trust." It develops that the immediate .occasion of this resolution, which was brought in on Satur day, is the declaration of Samuel Untermyer that he would not undertake to act as counsel for the committee in its chase- until tho house first passed a resolution granting to the com mittee unlimited powers and until the members gave assurances that they were in earnest and that no consideration of prospective campaign contributions would interfere with the thorough ness of the work. It was announced today that Mr. Untermyer had assented to the new program of tho com mittee and that he would have B. M. Farrar, of New Orleans, as his associate. But while Mr. Untermyer is said to have accepted, it is also made clear that his acceptance is condi tional upon the adoption, by the house of tho new resolution. Inasmuch as the adoption of his resolution will amount to a repudiation of the action of the democratic caucus, it is humi liating, to say the least, to those democrats who opposed the Henry proposition in caucus, some of whom took their political lives in their hands by so doing and who will be even worse off now that their opposition is about to be defeated. The discomfiture of the defeated democrats is augmented by the language of the resolution itself, which begins by asserting that the origi nal resolution "is insufficient in the delegation of its powers to permit of the scope of inquiry which it is believed to be necessary as a basis fdr remedial legislation of the subject" con templated. It is still possible that the resolu tion will result in a fight, although it is gen erally predicted that it will be adopted, despite the fact that one of its provisions amounts to little less than repealing one of the provisions of the constitution. It asserts that important changes have been, proposed in the banking and currency and the Sherman anti-trust laws,, and that legislation supplemental to existing anti-trust laws has "THE SHORT AND UGLY WORD" Following are Associated Press dispatches: Baltimore, May 4. In the closing speech of a fourteen-hour campaign trip through Maryland, President Taft added a new chapter to the his tory of the harvester trust here tonight. Speak ing to an audience that filled the Lyric theater, .Mr. Taft declarod that Colonel Theodore Roose velt did prevent the prosecution of that "trust" after George W. Perkins, one of its directors and now a Roosevelt supporter, had asked that the trust be not taken into the courts; intimated that Charles J. Bonaparte, attorney general under Mr. Roosevelt, was "mistaken" when he said that ho (Mr. Taft) was present at a cabi net meeting which decided against prosecution and said the diary of Herbert Knox Smith, then and now head of the bureau of corporations proved that at the time referred to he was on a trip around the world. Mr. Taft's explanation of the harvester trust muddle was only one of tho many points on which ho attacked Colonel Roosevelt. He said his predecessor's attitude towards tho trusts showed' clearly that ho wished to perfect a be nevolent despotism that would discriminate be tween the good and bad trusts; pointed out how Mr. Roosevelt had changed from his attitude, re garding his entrance Into the presidential race as a calamity to that of being an active cam paigner for the nomination, and insisted that Mr. Roosevelt was striving to make this cam paign one in which tho man who had little should be arrayed against him who had none. In concise form he listed the achievements of his administration and tho charges which Mr. Roosevelt had made against it, declaring that in his term in the white house there had been more progressive legislation enacted than in ny previous president's term sinco the civil war. Oyster Bay, N. Y., May 5. In a statement been proposed In a number of bills. It charges that thero is reason to beliovo that tho finances of the great corporations "is rapidly concentrat ing in tho hands of tho few financiers in tho city of Now York;" that thcso havo secured domination over the leading national banks and other moneyed concerns In New York; that tills financial group appears to be In a position to control tho security and commodity market, to regulate tho Interest rates, to creato, avert and compose panics. Tho resolution doclares that national banks and other moneyed lnstltu- tlons are engaged In tho promotion, underwrit ing and exploitation of speculative enterprises, the promotion of deals in railway securities, etc. The committee is directed to make a most thorough investigation into every phase of finance, to determine who control or arc influen tial in directing tho use of tho funds of the na tional banks, the relations which tho Now York stock exchange and tho New York clearing house bear to each other and to such individ uals and in their financial transactions, "and to our commercial and financial systems and to interstate and foreign commerce." If the resolution is passed in its present form tho committee will havo thef power to investi gate the source of campaign contributions mado for many years past. This is tho singular extra-constitutional pro vision of the Pujo resolution: No person shall be excused from giving testi mony or from answering any questions or 'from otherwise disclosing any fact within his knowledge, or from producing any book, paper or document on tho ground that the giving of such testimony or the production of such book, paper or document would tend to incriminate him, or for any other reason; but every person so testifying shall be granted immunity from prosecution with respect to any matter or thing concerning which he may bo interrogated under oath upon such investigation. The democrats declare that if tho Pujo resolu tion is passed they will be just where they woro .prior to action on the question by tho caucus. There is also much feeling over tho determina tion of the committee, which was formerly opposed to him, to retain tho services of Mr. Untermyer. Tho New York lawyer was bitterly attacked in tho "money trust" caucus, and lack of confidence in him was expressed by certain members of the house. One democratic leader went so far as to read a decision in which Mr. Untermyer was assailed by tho judge. issued hero tonight by Colonel Roosevelt, In reply to President Taft's speech in Baltimore last night, the colonel assorts that Mr. Taft know ho was making an untruo statement when he said that the former president expressed tho opinion that tho anti-trust law ought to be re pealed. Ho also again contradicts tho president in regard to tho "harvester trust" case, saying that at a cabinet meeting and In prlvato con versation with him, Mr. Taft "repeatedly and emphatically approved the course actually taken." Colonel Roosevelt had read President Taft's Baltimore speech carefully and he prepared his reply with equal care, writing it out with a pencil instead of dictating It to his secretary. He would make no further statement. ' The colonel returned this morning from his Mary land tour. He said he expected to remain in Oyster Bay for a week before starting on his Ohio campaign. "Mr. Taft says I havo said that the anti-trust law ought to be repealed," asserts Colonel Roosevelt. "Mr. Taft well knows that this is not true. I have always repeatedly stated that it ought to be kept on the books and really en forced (not merely nominally enforced as has been done by Mr. Taft in the Standard Oil and Tobacco trust cases) against all trusts guilty of anti-social practices, but I have always said and now say again that by Itself, anti-trust law will never solve the problem of dealing with tEo great corporations and that to control the great industrial Interstate corporations wo should have a law akin to tho present interstate- com merce law but without the mischievous inter state commerce court." Colonel Roosevelt refers to tho pending in vestigation of Judge Archibald of tho commerco court and asserts that the judge was appointed to placate a Pennsylvania politician; although tho appointee's alleged unfitness for tho offlco had already boon called to Prosldont Taft's attention. Tho statement continues: "In Kentucky and Indiana, In Now York city and elsewhere, Mr. Taft knows well that tho dolegatos olocted for him ropresent barofacod frauds. He stands guilty of connivance and of condonation of tho frauds; ho stands guilty of approving and oncouraglng fraud which de prives tho people of their right to express their will as to who shall bo nomlnatod. "In all those presidential conventions I havo stood for absoluto honesty and fair play. Mr. Taft has stood for crooked misrepresentation of the will of tho peoplo." CONTROL BY THE PEOPLE Ralston, Okla., April 30, l912.--Editor Tho Commoner: See tho article under caption of "Why Not," pago 4, April 2G, 1912. Last para graph, "Turn on tho Light." I offer tho en closed resolution which was unanimously adopted by tho democratic county convention this spring and It offers tho only romedy for existing political evils. Will you kindly pub lish tho resolution? This resolution is of my own writing and expresses my personal views In matters political. And I assort that any man who asks tho confidence of tho peoplo and who is unwilling to comply with tho provisions of this resolution Is a traitor and an enomy of popular government. Yours for a good govern ment properly admlnlstorod, I am, OWSLEY LONERGAN. Tho following resolution was adopted by tho democratic convention at Pawneo, Oklahoma: "As a means of expressing our confidence In tho loyalty, honor and honesty of tho candi date or candidates of our party, wo, tho demo crats of Pawnee county, in convention as sembled do herewith adopt tho following reso lution and pledgo our delegates to tho stato and national conventions to work to securo its adoption there. "Resolved: That wo favor tho enactment of a law permitting tho various central com mittees of each party having a representation on tho ticket, to ask each candldato seeking nomination for election to office a numbor of questions not exceeding fifty for each com mittee, under whoso department tho elections aro held, such questions to pertain to past offi cial actions or present policies and to ho so worded as to permit them to bo answered by Yes or No; such questions to bo published and filed with tho candidate not later than Juno 1st, of each year in which the elections aro to be held and during tho week immediately following tho primaries In August another list of questions of like character and number to bo filed with the secretary of stato who shall for ward tho same to tho candidate addressed, who shall answer the same under oath within tho time prescribed by law and shall file tho answers with tho secretary. of stato and said answers shall constitute a contiact between tho candidate and tho people and tho successful candidate at tho polls shall filo his resignation in escrow with the secretary of stato at tho time ho receives his certificate of election. Should tho officer elected neglect or refuse to perform his duties as per contract within tho timo prescribed by law, an action for breach of contract shall be entertained by the supremo court of the state, and given an Immediate hearing, against tho secretary of state to com pel him to deliver the resignation to the gover nor, who shall if tho action Is sustained, accept tho resignation and declare the office vacant" WHY NOT? Editorial in The Commoner of April 26th: Congressman Randall urges a bill prohibiting congressmen and senators from accepting legal employment which might Influence official action on their part. What objection can bo urged to it? Our national legislature acts as a jury. Why should its members take employment from corporations that appear as partlesl.lb the con troversies that come before congress? And now Congressman Lindbergh introduces a resolution requiring congressmen to-make a list of their corporate holdings. Any objection to that? Why should congressmen object to letting the public know whether 1y hare a pecuniary interest In matters co'fiing beforo them for official action? If they "love darkness rather than light," is It "because their deeds are evil?" "Light" is the watchword now. Day is at hand and a democratic congress can not afford to shield those who shun publicity. Turn on tho light. .! i t i ' wwfwwr?" H- 'vrvstr'