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The Commoner
MAECH, 1914
J c?r,tfn'
The President on Canal Tolls
The following address was delivered by Presi
dent Wilson at a joint session of the two houses
of congress, March 5, 1914:
Gentlemen of The Congress:
I havo como to you upon an errand which can
bo very briefly performed, but I beg that you
will not measure its importance by tho number
of sentences in which I state it. No communica
tion I havo addressed to tho congress carried
with it graver or more far-reaching implications
as to the interest of the country, and I come now
to speak upon a matter with regard to which I
am charged in a peculiar degree, by the constitu
tion itself, with personal responsibility.
I havo come to ask you for tho repeal of that
provision of the Panama canal act of August 24,
1912, which exempts vessels engaged in tho
coastwise trade of the United States from pay-
ment of tolls, and to urge upon you the justice,
the wisdom, and the large policy of such a re
peal with the utmost earnestness of which I am
capable.
In my own judgment, very fully considered
and maturely formed, that exemption constitutes
a mistaken economic policy from every point of
view, and is, moreover, in plain contravention of
the treaty with Great Britain concerning the
canal concluded on November 18, 1901. But I
have not como to urge upon you my porsonal
views. I have come to state to you a fact and a
situation. Whatever may be our own differences
of opinion concerning this much debated meas
ure, its meaning is not debated outside tho
United States. Everywhere else the language of
the treaty is given but one interpretation, and
that interpretation precludes tho exemption I
am asking you to repeal. We consented to the
treaty; its language we accepted, if we did not
originate it; and wo are too big, too powerful,
too self-respecting a nation to interpret with a
too strained or refined reading tho words of our
own promises just because we havo power
enough to give us leave to read thorn as we
please. The largo thing to do is tho only thing
wo can afford to do, a voluntary withdrawal
from a position everywhere questioned and mis
understood. We ought to reverse our action
without raising the question whether we were
right or wrong, and so onco moro deserve our
reputation for generosity and for the redemption
of every obligation without quibble or hesitation.
I ask this of you in support of tho foreign
policy of the administration. I shall not know
how to deal with other matters of even greater
delicacy and nearer consequence if you do not
grant it to me in ungrudging measure.
SENATOR GORE AND HIS VINDICATION
We reproduce on another page extracts from
articles and editorials which appeared in several
leading journals that indicate the light in which
public opinion has viewed the vindication of
Senator Gore. The verdict and vindication were
both speedy and splendid. It took the jury less
than three minutes to exonerate the senator and
to cast a merited rebuke upon his accusers. No
one who knew Senator Gore personally ever
credited the charges against him. He has been
compelled it is true to pass through a' fiery ordeal
and yet the trial has its compensation. It afford
ed him an opportunity to vindicate his good
name and to demonstrate the falsity of the
charges against him as well as the malignity of
those who had preferred them.
The whole matter seems to be but the evil
fruit, of the evil tree of disappointment and re
vej&is? it will be remembered that X P. Mc
Murra.i' jiad contracts., with the Chickasaw and
Choctaw-Indians which would have netted him
between three and four million dollars. Senator
Gore defeated those contracts. The evidence
showed frequent ' conferences in McMurray's
room in Washington between McMurray and the
several members of the conspiracy against Sen
ator Gore. The other members of the conspiracy
were all disappointed seekers after federal ap
pointments. Senator Gore had refused to in
dorse them- on the ground of their unfitness.
Their conduct has abundantly justified hiff judg
ment as to their unfitness.
Overtures were made from time to time on
behalf of one of his accusers or another to com
promise the matter for a consideration or an
office. Senator Gore steadfastly refused to pur
chase peace at the price of honor and his re
fusal was expressed In the following courageous
telegram under date of July 12th to Hon. M. M.
Bonner, Oklahoma City, Okla.
"Could neither treat nor retreat. Could en
tertain no proposition of settlement or compro
mise." There may be those who would have .capitu
lated, who would have bargained for peace, who
would have avoided publicity by a' dishonorable
compromise. It was the part of honor to spurn
the offer. The swift verdict proves that there is
wisdom as well as merit in a steadfast devotion
to public duty. The general rejoicing over the
vindication proves that those who have duties to
perform and dangers to dare may rely upon an
enlightened public conscience to sustain them in
a warfare against wrong doing and wrong- doers.
Senator Gore, who is one of the mainstays of
the administration, will now probably have no
opposition for reelection and should have none.
W. J. BRYAN.
Sixteen years after it happened, a dispute has
arisen between Admiral Dewey and Admiral
von Diedrichs over what occurred between them
in Manila bay. The German admiral says
Dewey lost his head on that occasion. Funny
nobody ever noticed it before.
A STALWART FIGURE GONE
The death of Henry M. Teller, former cabinet
member and senator from Colorado, removes one
of the stalwart figures of American political his
tory. The strength of his character and the
quality of his statesmanship was such that, dur
ing lib long and eventful career, his aorvlce
could not be confined to the boundaries of his
chosen state, but lent its power and Influence In
shaping the history of the whole country. The
following well deserved tribute to Senator Teller
appeared in the Denver News:
"Whether in the senate of the United States,
in the cabinet or in the councils of the common
wealth he had helped to build well and wisely,
Henry Moore Teller was a commanding and re
spected figure. No voice was more potent than
his in deliberations affecting the national weal
where political partisanship was not involved.
No counsel was sought after" more frequently.
His quality of statesmanship was broad and
comprehensive. His spirit was the American
spirit, his creed the Declaration of Independence,
his faith the legacy the fathers have bequeathed
in the republic. Neither expediency nor hypocrisy
played controlling part in his life. He believed
in freedom for Cuba and the Philippines with
the same zest and unwavering honesty that he
had for the autonomy of every state in the union.
He loved freedom for all, black and white, be
cause it was freedom and because, too, freedom
for man or people as he believed comes from
God's right hand to uplift and prosper In every
clime under the sun. His name will not bo found
in the roster of the opportunists, but history will
accord him high place beside those who have
pleaded and striven and struggled for the best
they could forge for the republic the men In
national leadership who by common consent are
unmistakably earnest, who are not tied down
irrevocably by the traditions of party, and who
do not fear to break new ground when humanity
and patriotism demand the sacrifice.
"Senator Teller filled a big space in the his
tory of the United States. It is perhaps too
early yet to properly estimate the value of his
services. All the policies he inspired and helped
to develop have not reached their full fruition.
But many of them are fundamentals of the na
tional government, and insofar as they have
found voice in practice have been of signal ad
vantage to the people. What his political affilia
tions were is of little moment. It is or should
be enough for us of Colorado to know that in
Henry M. Teller statesmanship was amply en
dowed, diplomacy had a sincere and conservative
exponent, and the United States an able and un
compromising patriot.
"A pillar has fallen from the national temple.
His own and beloved Colorado, to which he dedi
cated with lavish will his greatest strength of
devotional service, will continue to mourn for
him. Through all the vicissitudes of public life
his first thought was for the people among whom
he had grown as neighbor and counselor and
for the commonwealth he had seen develop from
a territory of sottleraenta into an Imperial state
of cities and towns. As kindly aa tho years had
dealt with him, so did ho deal through all of
them with this people, whose confidence ho had
received as a sacred heritage and never onco
betrayed."
HILLY SUNDAY
To call tho Reverend William A. Sunday
"Billy" ia not a discourtesy but an ovidenco of
affection. It wan tho name by which ho waa
known when he was a baseball player, and ho
has not found It necessary to maintain his
dignity by frowning upon . a familiarity which
his gonial nature Invites. Like Sam Jones, ho is
the recipient of praiBO and abuso of praise
from those whoso hearts havo folt tho Influence
of his powerful appeals, of criticism from thoso
v' o inv0 nnt come Into contact with him or are
Ignorant of the effective sorvlco he has rendered
to Dig causo of righteousness. It is said that ho
is dramatic well, life has its dramatic moments,
and nature does not always speak in whispers.
T o O'l.tntor. tho lightning, the earthquake and
tho hurricane, as well as the meadow brook, the
evenlm? zephyr and tho glowing sunset, give us
glimpses of nature.
Sunday should not bo condemned be'eauso he
does not follow the beaton oratorical path. No
t "ooakers are alike If they aro worth com
paring; no speaker can successfully imitate an
other speaker, and he will not want to unless he
is more interested in his manner than In his
irofC'nre some ministers havo complained that
Sunday Is unconventional. But what of that If
the Lord gives him souls for his hire? Tho
preacher who finds fault with Sunday should,
before complaining, be sure that he can offer in
support of his kind of preaching a longer list of
names of persons who havo been converted. If
your neighbor tolls you that he has no use for
Billy Sunday, take him to ono of Sunday's meet
ings and let him sit spellbound, as thousands do
nightly, and listen to his presentation of tho
Gospel. Ono experience will convince him that
a man who can bo instrumental in tho regenera
tion of human hearts and in strengthening his
hearers to a bettor life is not laboring In vain.
Every agency for evil, every manipulator of
the man-traps, every conspirator against the
purity of youth or the virtue of manhood or
womanhood all these will instinctively protest
acinar Sunday's entrance into their town. Is
that not enough to assure tho well-meaning man
on which side of the scales his Influence should
be cast? Billy Sunday knows tho average man,
and he reaches- him. He has felt' tho salvation
which be preaches, and he is thus able to bring fc
knowledge of It to those who need It. He is a
power for good wherever ho goes.
W. J. BRYAN.
Senator Beveridge insists that there is no such
a political animal as a progressive republican,
and insists that a man who claims to be one is
not progressive enough to be a progressive And
not republican enough to be a real republican.
A commission composed of those republicans
who had so much trouble defining the various
kinds of democrats they said they found in the
political field a few years ago might be called
as confessed experts In sheep and goat herding.
THE LAST WORD
(In compliance with public opinion, the Mor
gan firm has retired from a number of director
ates in great trusts of the country. News Item.)
When the voice of the people speaks loud enough
The deafest of magnates can hear;
Tho proudest of bankers is cowed enough
When the thunderbolts crash in his ear,
And. the Masters of Money grow humble,
"Their arrogance dwindles from sight,
When they hark to the menacing rumble
As the people speak out in their might!
When the voice of the people speaks loud enough
It's only a fool who's defiant; '
It's only a blind man who's proud enough
To think he can conquer the giant
The giant so slow in the waking,
So mighty when once under way, ""
That wise men, with knees that are quaking,
Give heed to his voice and obey!
The people have labored and plowed enough,
They are restless and weary of. strain .
When the voice of the people speaks loud enough
The Will of the people shall reign!
Berton Braley, in Milwaukee News.
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