The Commoner
FEBRUARY, 1914
11
managers of the companies meet the representa
tives of the miners with a view to effecting a
mutual settlement.
Second: .That the whole question in dispute
be submitted to arbitration.
Third: That the question be submitted to
arbitration and no member of the Western Fed
eration of Miners be selected upon the board.
Fourth: That the companies agree to rein
state all of the workmen without discrimination
relative to their being members or non-members
of a union.
Fifth: That the companies post notices that
they will re-employ all the strikers without dis
crimination relative to their being members or
non-members of a union.
Each of these propositions as made were ac
cepted by the representatives of the miners as a
basis of settlement, but were rejected by the
representatives of the companies on the ground
that they would not deal with the Western Fed
eration of Miners or have any of its members in
their employ. The companies on December 1st
posted notices to the effect that thereafter the
minimum wage rate would be $3 and the hours
oJ! labor per day 8 3-4.
The data contained in this report was collected
prior to the shooting at Seeberville; the shoot
.ing at'Painsdale; the Calumet tragedy at Italian
hall on Christmas eve, and the deportation of
Charles H. Moyer, and does not include any re
ports on these points.
INDORSES PRESIDENT'S MEXICAN POLICY
HOMES FOR AMBASSADORS
Among the many meritorious movements
which have gained strength during the last
decade is the one having for its object the pur
chase of homes for American ambassadors and
ministers abroad. Two reasons are given for
the change, and they are so conclusive that they
will convince all who take time to give them
consideration,
First. The present system is undemocratic in
that it limits the 'selection in most cases to men
of means. Fitness for a diplomatic post is not
accurately measured by possessions or income.
The high rents charged in foreign capitals
find rents' are rising with increased population
make it impossible for a poor man, however well
qualified, to accept an important diplomatic posi
tion. The government should be free to select
for its foreign posts those most fitted without in
quiring about their bank account.
' The second reason is also a democratic one.
The government should be in a position to regu
late the expenditures of its representatives in
order to prevent misrepresentation of American
life and ideals, not to speak of the embarrass
ment which an extravagant diplomat may cause
a less prodigal successor.
There is no reason why those who go abroad
should not present in their mode of life and in
their style of entertainment the ideals of their
country. If the representatives of each nation
will do this we shall learn more of each other
and profit more by the examples furnished. As
in the case of all movements of a worthy char
acter, an organization was formed to arouse pub
lic opinion in behalf of the purchase of homes in
foreign capitals for our official representatives,
and in a remarkably short time the movement
grew so strong that congress has approved the
policy arid purchases will be made as rapidly as
money is available.
When the change is completed we shall have
a permanent building in each country, appro
priately furnished, into which the American rep
resentative will go upon appointment with a
standard of living already established.
W. J. BRYAN.
Secretaries McAdoo and Houston have been
busy for a month accumulating a remarkable
fund of information about business conditions
and banking power in the respective communi
ties that 'have ben asking for the location of a
regional bank. Equipped with this arsenal of
facts they would be able to make short work of
the arguments' of the men who were recently
down at Washington insisting that the public
interest demanded continued control of the
country's financial system by New York.
President Wilson wants it made very clear
that the administration is not taking any part
in any primary fight in any state where senators
are to be chosen this year. This will rob these
contests of the amiable whisperers who confi
dentially informed each voter that the president
was relying for his future success upon having
them at his right hand.
WANTED To correspond with Demo
cratic State Chairmen, County Chairmen,
Secretaries, Members of Democratic State
Committees, Precinct Committeemen and
others who arc interested in circulating
Democratic literature and organizing for
the state and congressional elections this
year. Address The Commoner.
D
MR. BRYAN STRIVES TO PLEASE
Some people are never satisfied. When Wil
son had been chosen president, and the awful
rumor spread that ho fancied Bryan for secre
tary of state, a howl of protest wont up from
the usual anti-Bryan quarters. What? Put that
man at the head of the state department? In
credible; it could not be true! But, alas, it was.
The chair of secretary of state, vacated by Knox,
was dusted- off and presented to Bryan, and
dismal were the prophecies. The country had a
through ticket to perdition, sure, with no return
coupon so long as Bryan was on the job. Re
cently, the secretary announced that he was
about to spend several weeks lecturing upon the
Chautauqua circuit, and that naturally, for ex
cellent physical reasons, he would bo away from
Washington and the state department. Were
there sighs of relief from his critics? Not at all.
The same persons who howled most dismally
when Mr. Bryan' took the secretarial chair let
out a scream of pain on hearing of his proposal
to leave it. The folks who didn't want him in
Washington in any official capacity could not
bear to have him off the job, even for a few
weeks. Judging by their own past performances
and frequently expressed desires they should
have been the happiest of happy people, but they
weren't. Man is a fickle animal. Puck.
A GOOD SUGGESTION
Mr. Bryan is a prominent figure today in the
campaign for universal peace. Having served
as a private soldier from 1861 to 18 G&,
I wish to make a suggestion, which if carried
out, would assist very materially in bringing
about the much-desired consummation. My
proposal is this: Pass a general law requiring
every ablebodied man of military age to take
'his place in line in time of war and perform
actual service. Have the law forbid the pur
chase of substitutes and you will find the wealth
of the country will be backward in advocating
war even for purposes of speculation. Yours
truly, D. S. LIPSCOMB, Visalia, Cal.
The order of the interstate commerce commis
sion reducing the express rates in the United
States 16 per cent went into effect on February
lst. There will bo no effort made by the com
panies to contest the order in court, one of the
few times when injunctions did not follow such
decrees. The parcel post of the government has
not only lessened the cost of transportation to
those who patronize it, but to those also who
must still depend upon the express companies.
When a democrat, ten or twelve years ago,
spoke favorably of the project of government
ownership of railroads or telegraphs or tele
phones, he was denounced as a populist. Down
at Washington the government is arranging pre
liminary 'details for building a railroad of its
own in Alaska and congress is seriously discuss
ing taking over the entire telephone and tele
graph business of he country. And nobody
thinks of mentioning populism.
An average of a thousand men are fed each
night in the bread line that forms before the.
Bowery mission in New York city. It should be
stated, lest this figure appear too small, that
these averages were Compiled before the new
currency law was passed and before the full
effect of its provisions were felt among the stock
brokers.
Immediately following the announcement that
the democratic administration had forced the
Bell Telephone company to agree that it would
stop trying to stifle competition by the policy of
buying up independent companies, President
Vail announced that this ended government
ownership discussion. The man who locked the
stable after the horse was stolen has nothing
on Mr. Vail in the matter of acute perspicacity.
The American people have just cause to feel
proud concerning the way in which President
Wilson, our great and coming Abraham Lincoln,
and Secretary of State Bryan are handling the
Mexican rebellion.
President Wilson says, "Walt and watch,"
words in which volumes are expressed. Mothers,
do you realize the lives those two words "Wait
and watch" will save? Every mother that has a
dear one in the United States army should give
her heartfelt thanks to thoae two great men, who
are using such wonderful judgment, thereby
sparing the lives of their beloved ones.
The foreigners were warned by ex-Prealdent
Taft to leave Mexico and also by President Wil
son and Secretary Bryan and those who did not
hoed have themselves only to blame for the
consequences. Only a fow millionaires are
anxious to plunge the United States Into war
with Mexico, just to satisfy their greed. They
do not care how many of our boys are killed or
maimed for life.
My sentiment is to let the Mexicans fight it
out and save our boys.
JOSEPH R. STARK, Berkeley, Calif.
All that the people of the United States will
demand of these gigantic corporations that are
suing for peace with the government is that
they keep their promises of obeying the law.
Disregard of the statutes and of the rights of
others, that have been characteristic of those
who have been commanding huge apparent suc
cesses in the industrial and commercial world,
are responsible for the conditions that Mr. Wil
son has declared must cease. This is a form of
special privilege that has been most obnoxious,
and there can be no real peace until it has been
absolutely abolished.
Land speculation, says Secretary Lane, has
greatly interfered with the success of the groat
reclamation projects financed by the govern
ment with the intention of bringing under culti
vation a vastly increased area of farm land in
the west. Half of the lands are held by men
who want to profit personally through govern
ment enterprise and who do not want to do any
farming. Mr. Lane promises a policy that will
force these into use or on sale.
" In his recommendation to congress that the
government take over the telegraph and tele
phone systems, Postmaster General Burleson
says that with the present compact postal organ
ization, tho business can be done cheaper than
by private corporations. The trusts can't deny
the logic of that statement without recanting
their doctrine of the economic efficiency of ag
gregated business.
The unanimity with which tho national bank
ers accepted and the fervor with which they com
mended the currency bill, after it became a law,
was equalled only by the unanimity with which
they condemned and the fervor with which they
opposed it when it was in the making. Apparent
ly, when they found they could not get what they
wanted, they found they really wanted what they
could get.
THE LITTLE MASTER
The Little Master lies so still,
With quiet hands and folded eyes;
It can not be it is his will
To let the bright hours slip away,
Forsaking all his merry play
It is a strange and sad surprise!
The Little Master sleeps so deep,
He does not list to any call;
He does not hear his mother weep,
Or hear the happy robins sing,
He takes no heed of anything
Wo can not wake him up at all!
The Little Master sleeps so long;
The day and night to him are one.
No evening prayer, or morning song,
Or tripping feet adown the stair,
Or ringing laughter anywhere
His little joyous time is done! '
H'
V
k -
?
Oh, Little Master, still and cold, . .-'
Fairer than all the fair, you lie
This last hour in the dear home-fold,
And then your couch a low, green bed,
With sweet flowers strewn above your head-
Oh, Little Boy, good-hy, good-by!
Emma A. Lente in Farm Journal.
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