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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1914)
The Commoner . :I ATT. 3914 A Campaign Is Approaching No one who follows the proceedings in congress ' can fail to notice evidence of the fact that a campaign is." approaching. The regular repub licans and the progressive republicans are sparr ring for advantage. Instead of considering th'o merits of the issues presented, there is a very evident tendency to seize upon anything that promises to give them party advantage. This is quite natural, but it is also more or less dangerous. The administration is dealing -with questions of .grave importance and the aver age citizen is much more interested in securing needed legislation than he is in which party gets credit for it. The president, accepting the re- sponsiblllties which fall upon those in power, Is moving straight forward with tha reforms to which lie is committed, turning aside only where new exigencies require attention., The effort which has been made to interfero with tho plans which he has formed for dealing with questions affecting other nations is not likely to win public support, for the chief executive is tho one entrusted by the constitution with tho con duct of diplomatic negotiations. The attempt to put a small special Interest against the larger considerations with which tho president is deal ing in the tolls question, finds no considerable sympathy among the voters, and the partisan speeches made by republicans against the presi dent's Mexican policy are awakening widespread criticism. When thirteen votes wero recorded against the vote of confidence passed by the sen ate, one of the republlcana remarked that ho hoped It would not prove an Unlucky number. In the meantime the president Is gladdened by a growing confidence In his methods as well as in his purpose. . W. J. BRYAN. THE TEMPERANCE CAUSE GROWING The readers of The Commoner will be Interr ested to know that Secretary Daniels is receiv ing widespread praise for the order which ex cludes intoxicating liquors from the vessels of the navy and the navy yards after the first of July. The enlisted men in the navy are not permitted to carry or use liquor on shipboard, but an- exception has been made In favor of the officers. It is not surprising that the subordinates Should feel that they were being discriminated against by a system which carefully excluded the use of liquor among them while It was per mitted to their superior officers. If liquor is good, why should the enlisted men be denied its benefits? And if liquor is so bad that the gov ernment is justified in forbidding its use to en listed men, why should its use be permitted to officers? The higher the officer the more important it is that his head shall be clear and his nerves steady; so that the logic of the case is on the side of the men, rather than on the side of the officers, if drink is to be allowed. But there is another reason why the order is a wise one. The officer should set a good ex ample to his men. Nothing that he can say carries an influence approximating the influence exerted by example. The subordinate is not like ly to feel in his heart any great respect for his' superior officers if he sees them indulging in that which clouds the mind and dethrones the reason. Congratulations to our great secretary of the navy, who dares to teach democracy to those who serve in the navy, for it is democracy to treat all alike in a matter of such importance. But the navy department is not the only place where temperance is being taught. Hon. Cato Sells, commissioner of Indian affairs, has re cently Issued a statement which reads as follows: "Washington, MaTch 2:, 1914. To All Em ployees in the Indian Service: The following is an excerpt from my address to the conference of field supervisors on the evening of Feb. 20, 1914: " 'I believe that the greatest present menace to the American Indian is whiskey: It does more to destroy his constitution and invite the ravages of disease than anything else: It does more to demoralize him as a man and frequently as a woman: It does more to make him an easy prey to the unscrupulous than everything else com bined. If I say nothing more to you tonight that leaves an impression, let it be this one thought: Let us save the American Indiati from the curse of whiskey. " 'We have a force of men engaged in the sup pression of the liquor traffic. That is their spe cial business. But it is my business, and it is your business, to do everything we can without injecting ourselves offensively into the work of others or assuming a duty that is not properly ours, to create an atmosphere, and suggest con ditions that will be helpful in this respect, and above all to be a personal object-lesson inviting the Indian to banish liquor, rather than to be guilty of anything that may cans' hfm to look upon one of us as a justification for doing that which leads him to the destruction caused by the use of whiskey. " 'There is nothing that could Induce me, since I have taken tho oath of office ns commissioner of Indian affairs, to touch a single drop of any sort of intoxicating liquor, and this regardless of my attitude on tho prohibition ques.tion. " 'As a matter of good faith to our treaty rela tionships, to legislative enactments, to the con gress which appropriates $100,000 a year for the suppression of the liquor traffic among the Indians, we should do everything reasonably within our power to justify this appropriation and Insure the best results obtainable. This ac complished, we have laid a substantial founda tion for all of our work, in solving the Indian problem, and made a long step forward looking toward their equipment For the responsibilities of citizenship.' "It is my great desire that every employee In the Indian service shall realize the tremendous importance of the liquor suppression work, and exert his best efforts and Influence for the pro tection of the Indian from this, his worst enemy. "I desire this letter to be regarded as a per sonal communication to every employee in tho Indian service, and that It be seriously treated as such, and I especially request that on tho 6th day of April, 1914, the same be read to the student body of every Indian school, including those under government, mission, or private supervision. Sincerely yours, "CATO SELLS, Commissioner." Mr. Sells takes the right view of tho subject. He is practicing what he preaches. He will not use liquor himself because he will not set a bad example to those whom he is endeavoring to e.erve and benefit. This Is the spirit that ought to animate those who are in responsible posi tion?. It is interesting to note that Hon. Joseph. U. Choate, former ambassador to Great Britain, and one of the leading lawyers of the nation, has felt so much interested in Mr. Sells' order that be has written him the folowlng letter of en dorsement: "New York City, March 28, 1914. My Dear Mr. Sells: I thank you very much for sending me a copy of your letter: 'To all employees In the Indian Service.' You are absolutely. right in your position that if we can save the Ameri can Indian from the curse of whiskey, we can save him from pretty much all the other Ills that threaten him. Yours very truly, "(Signed) JOSEPH H. CHOATE." Mr. Sells is making a splendid official and this is one of the most meritorious of his many worthy deeds. . t Six republican members of, the house who voted against the free tolls exemption when the matter was before that body two years ago voted against Its repeal when the iggue was raised a few weeks ago. The only possible reason for this change of front wag a belief that if they could prevent the passage of the repeal the ad ministration would be embarrassed. Men who legislata merely for partisan advantage will have considerable difficulty in securing enrollment in any organization of patriots. & . ) OUR PRESIDENT How well ho seems to have managed . it thlg whole sordid business of going to war; how fair ho has been; how patient, how dignified, how Infinitely gentle and kind. No bluster, no threats, no snicker of anticipation; no licking of tho nation's chops Just a stmple-souled, brave, soft-hearted, hard-headed man. It is sad enough to go into war of any kind at any time; but It is less sad to go knowing that every honorable moans has . been taken to keep away from war. And this consolation President Wilson has given ub by his wise, forbearing, Chris tian attltudo before the provocation of a foe mad and desperate and foolish. Tho good God, who knows all and watches over all, and sees all, and directs all, was in our hearts deeper than we know when as a nation we chose this great, serene soul to lead uh. William Allen White. THE TREATIES The peace propoganda moves on. Fifteen treaties have beon signed providing for investi gation in all questions the last one being with Italy, the largest nation with which a troaty of this kind has been made. Negotiations are abou,t completed with ten other nations, Creat Britain, France, Norway, Brazil, Argentina, Chili, Uru guay, Cuba and China. When these nations have signed, governments representing consider ably more than half the world's population will be bound to us by treaties which will make war between this country and them almost (impossible. There seems to be very general agreement upon the fact that most of tho war talk that hag been heard came' from persons who had invest ments in Moxico they wanted those of us who had made our investments at home to protect In effect thltJ was a demand that we spend part of our property In order that they might not lotfe a part of theirs. The assumption of risk, in other words, they desired to shift to other shoulders. One can understand why a man ivft'h money invested in Mexico would be anxious tb have tho United States send an army there, btft why anybody else would consider it unpatriotic not to do as he wished, is a puzzler. The grain and cattle markets are proving themselves to be no friends to those republicans who hope to ride into congress or tho senate this year by proving to tho farmer how hard ho has been hit by tho foreign competition to which tha .new democratic tariff has subjected him. They are uniformly marking higher prices for what tho farmer produces than ho got before tho tariff law was passed. These casual students dt the tariff will some day discover just how little an effect on prices tho comparatively small im portation of farm products can and will have. The editorial paragraphers had some fun dur ing the past month with Secretaries McAdoo and Houston and Comptroller Williams because four of the twelve cities they selected for regional banks were located in the three states from which these gentlemen hail. If they had had time to think up a comeback they might have suggested that the commanding Importance of theso cities was first given official recognition when two cabinet officers and the head of tho banking department were selected from their citizenship. The prophecy that Roosevelt will be tho presi dential nominee of the progressives and the re publicans in 191 G is still being repeated, and ap parently is finding a few more believers. If that should happen, it would be painful to witness the efforts of a number of esteemed republican spellbinders to revise the campaign speeches they made in 1912. The ready debaters found it difficult to get up much of a commotion over whether Huerta ought to have been required to salute the flag after he had insulted it In Tampico. The average maa merely said: "Well, if Wilson thinks a salute ought to be demanded and made, let him use the army and navy to force one." And that ende4 all argument.