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The Commoner
"VOL. 13, NO. 30
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Now for Currency Reform
, Tho president, in a speech which ho delivered
after signing tho tariff bill, sounded a buglo
call on tho currency question.
Tho bill has passed tho house with a majority
that ought to give it immediate standing in tho
Bonato. Only three democrats voted against tho
bill on final passago and twenty-four regular
republicans and fourteen progressive republi
cans voted for it. Thoro is no reason for delay
in tho senate. Every senator has his mind made
up; tho friends of tho bill are ready to act upon
It and tho opponents of tho measure have had
opportunity to register their objections.
Why should tho country bo denied tho im
mediate benefit of a bill whose provisions havo
been so widely indorsed? Why should any
friend of the measure countenance a postpone
ment of tho voting?
EVERY READER OP THE COMMONER IS
URGED TO WRITE HIS SENATORS AT ONCE,
MAKING KNOWN HIS VIEWS AND URGING
IMMEDIATE ACTION.
Tho president, in congratulating tho country
on the passage of the tariff bill, said:
"We have set the business of this country
free from those conditions which have made
monopoly not only possible but in a sense easy
and natural.
"Tho power to control and guide and direct
tho credits of the country is the power to say
who shall and who shall not build up the indus
tries of the country, in which direction they
shall be built, and in which direction they shall
not bo built. We are now about to take the
second step, which will bo the final step in set
ting the business of this country free. That is
what we shall do in tho currency bill, which the
house has already passed and' which I have
the utmost confidence tho senate will pass much
sooner than some pessimistic individuals be
lieve. Because the question now that this
piece of work is done will arise all over the
country, 'For what do we wait? Why should
wo wait to crown ourselves with consummate
honor? Are we so self-denying that we do not
wish to complete our success?' "
Let there be no pause; the work is well be
gun; it must bo finished. The party has put its
hand to the plow it can not turn back.
When tho currency bill is passed, there will
bo other important measures to consider, for
the democratic program is a complete one and
tho president recognizes the full measure of his
responsibility, but for the present for this
session it will be enough to add currency re
form to tariff reform, and then the country will
be ready for further applications of democratic
principles to existing conditions.
W. J. BRYAN.
Dignity
Tho New York World, which has recently set
itself up as the custodian of official dignity,
prints the following in its editorial columns:
"With the air of a just man conscious of his
own perfection, Mr. Bryan says of those who do
not approve of the secretary of state exhibiting
himself for money:
" 'A part of this criticism is malicious, a part
of it is partisan and a part of it is based upon,
misinformation. That which is malicious will
answer itself; that which is partisan will be
accepted as such; that which Is based upon mis
information will cease when the critics are
better informed.'
"If this were all, the answer might be suffi
cient, but in judging human conduct there are
considerations quite as Important as partisan
ship, malice and misinformation. There is good
taste; there is propriety; there is precedent,
and there is dignity. Opinion that is based on
these things can not he ignored, no matter what
may be said of partisanship, malice and misin
formation." Yes, there is good taste, but who is to set the
standard? Shall the newly-rich fit all to their
procrusteon bed? It is an old maxim that there
is no use disputing about taste; each one looks
ut the subject from his own point of view. In
dross, in manners, and in conduct there are all
grades and degrees of taste and a wide latitude
is necessarily allowed to the individual. Noth
ing would bo more tyrannical than to compel
acceptance of the views of any one as to what
Is good taste.
And so with propriety, which is but a syno
nym for good taste. Tho sense of propriety may
ho called tho sixth sense, so important is it.
Words fitly spoken, tho doing of the right thdng
at tho right time, the suiting of the act to the
opportunity all are desirable. But to whose
judgment are we to bow in such matters? Who
will assumo to bound propriety with rigid rules?
A few newspaper proprietors may introduce into
their editorial rooms the canons of propriety
that prevail among courtiers but they can not
force them into American public life.
With precedent It is a little different, A good
precedent is valuable for guidance; but the bost
use than can be made of a had precedent is to
break it. All reforms require the breaking of
precedent. Progrossiveness is its very antithesis.
To say that that which HAS been done must
necessarily BE done for evermore is to decree
stagnation. To rest ono's case upon precedent
may indicato lack of argument rather than
pldntltudo of wisdom. Tho man who can give a
good reason for tho thing that ho does Is not
compelled to fall back upon the excuse that
someone else has done the same thing before.
But dignity! What a word to conjure with!
What follies have been committed in its name
and what false conceptions of dignity abound in
tho world! With some it is more dignified to
inherit wealth than to earn it to waste the
money that someone else has accumulated than
to engage in remunerative toil. Many a man
has been brought to bankruptcy by his efforts
to be dignified when he should have endeavored
to be useful. False dignity is about the poorest
investment that man can make; it yields no
dividends; it earns no rewards.
If the idea of dignity is overworked in the
individual it is still more abused in the official,
especially In a free country. In a republic the
ofilcals are the servants; the people are the
sovereigns "the servant is not greater than his
lord." In aristocratic circles, where the weak
minded toady to those of high birth, and among
the plutocratic, where sycophants fawn before
those who possess wealth, the common ways of
the common people are regarded with contempt;
but among the masses, where men are measured
by what they accomplish and are weighed
according to their worth, the earning of a living
is not a disgrace and mingling with the multi
tude is not a cause of reproach. The people
those who have the power to overturn rulers
and to establish governments, are fit companions
for such as exercise authority by their sufferance.
Tho forum is not below the level of official life;
it is not a stepping down to go from the desk
to the platform. As Antaeus, tho wrestler, re
ceived now strength from Mother Earth as often
as ho touched the ground, so the man in public
life must keep in contact with the people if he
would bo strong; only when he allows himself
to ho separated from them can he be overcome.
ANOTHER GOOD MEASURE
There has been introduced in both the senate
and house bills providing for the removal of the
restrictions on deposits in postal savings banks.
The existing law limits deposits to one hundred
dollars for each calendar month. It is now
proposed to take off the limit and allow denosits
without restrictions.
This is a step in tho right direction. If the
banks will not insure depositors against loss,
the government should provide a means by
which absoluto security can be obtained.
What a pity the present proprietor of the New
York World does not attend the school of
journalism established by Joseph Pulitzer and
learn how to conduct a newspaper.
NEW TARIFF LAW FAVORS THE MASSES
A striking difference between the Underwood
tariff law and its predecessor is that it does awav
with the gross discriminations that marked most
republican tariff measures, in dozens of in
stances that The Commoner gave In detail in
its analyses of the Payne-Aldrich law tho lower
grade of goods used by the average householder
carried a higher rate of duty than the better
grades which were manufactured for the use of
the richer classes. In the new law this process
has been reversed. The man best able to pay a
tariff duty pays the higher rate and the one
least able to do it pays the lower rate. In the
Payne-Aldrich law, for instance, the commonest
earthenware used on the table of the poor was
taxed at the same high rate as was the most ex
pensive and best decorated china. In the
Underwood law these ivere placed in different
classes. Crockery, earthenware, granite and
semi-porcelain wares were grouped together
with a duty of 40 per cent affixed instead of 60,
while the china and porcelain are in another
group and carry 55 per cent duty. In the mat
ter of linoleums and oil cloths, the Payne
Aldrich law carried duties nearly twice as great
as the Underwood law, but by the new system
of classification the better gradeB will carry the
higher duties, while the lower grades carry the
lower duties'. In the case of gloves the same
principle was applied, which was a direct re
versal of the republican policy, under which the
many-buttoned, long-sleeved and high-priced
glove of my lady was dutiable at a less rate
than the common leather gloves of the masses.
The same is true of the hosiery schedules. In
fact, everywhere this gross inequality was found
it was eliminated.
The partnership supposed by. partisans to
exist between the republican party and Pro
vidence seems to have heen dissolved not by
mutual consent, but by the voluntary retire
ment of the silent member of the firm.
MAYOR GA.YNOR
All who are interested in the progressive
cause will share tho sorrow which Mayor
Gaynor's death has brought to his family and
personal friends. He was a strong man
strong in his mental grasp and strong in his
moral courage. He had the courage to think
for himself and to act according to his thought
In 1896 he was one of the -few prominent men
in public life in New York who dared to espouse
the democratic cause upon its merits. Many
gave formal support to tho ticket while dissent
ing from the platform; not so with Judge
Gaynor; he was not afraid to adopt and defend
the political creed set forth in Chicago. He
knew that the money question, important as it
was, was but a surface manifestation of a
deeper issue, of which tho country is now fully
informed. He knew that the democratic party
was striking the first telling blow against cor
porate domination of the instrumentalities or
government. His heart was for tho people ana
he became their champion. From that day unt
his death, he was on the firing line. Like an
who fight the people's battle, he had enemies,
but he never turned aside from his determina
tion to lend assistance to the cause of reform
His place will be hard to fill, for relatively
few combine his ability, his instinct for puuu.
affairs and his deep and broad sympathy for u
masses.
A new tariff 'law is in force and still the i sun
shines and the earth spins aroui-d just as it a
under high protection,
PRESIDENT YUAN SHI KM
The Chinese parliament has selected Yuan
Shi Kai, the provisional' presiaent, to oe
first chief executive. He was chosen on
third ballot to serve for five years. K.etienI;,ia.
a two-thirds vote of the united house ot la
ment, he enters upon his office with a t;'
backing and his career gives great proniibt.
It will be remembered that the United btai
was the first of the nations to recognize ' ue at
republic. In fact, it was almost the on j . b
nation to do so before the election. J '- fid
Wilson is to be congratulated upon ")'" lfl
tho way; he acted wisely and our counw
near to the hearts of the' people of , "icti0n.
public because of it's prompt sympathetic . q
Success for the United States cf China, i
President Yuan, tfay eact day add no ce
to his career 'and each year mark an u
in his nation's forward march.
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