Wj, t 'i " ""' y v pPPk The Commoner 20 VOL. 15, NO. I J " tf r, p -r i l. u t 1K ) - . t i. 11 P if ( t- lC rr- ft . K Wh k: ualiliaiB IfOMESPUN E2 IH tobacco IKg 9tmtm Pur, Time Cured In The Hand Kentucky Leaf If you are a judge of real leaf tobacco you will appreciate this hill -grown Kentucky Leaf. 41L - Parcels Po$t - frf 1 f IDS .,tofNocycTl , tbJL.JLU - lfmml n9 TJxlsl. l C Mkhmr Smoking or Chewing, state which you want token ordering. Try a 4-pound box and you will ctub With friends and buy In 100-pound Iota or moro, at peetal price Writ for Vookltt that explains. Kttueky Tebacce Ce Dept. 23 PatesTJlle, Ky. The University of Chicago in addition to resident work, offers alaoinatruc tion by correspondence. HOME STUDY aid Year U.ofC.(Dlr. C)CHcaj.,IH. kMi wJB aw ax KmmmmmmmmmmmmtmmmmmmmmmmmmmJnlS For detailed In formation addreta Tayl I Ml al talO f QUMT Mftd. orV'Stahot" Water Bottle and SYRINGE 6 Months' Trial Gaaraateed 5 Yeara arSiaiiBw han t ViZBBBBL T snmmmmi"Mi, waaaaara V RCHr BRiJi I FRANKLIN TAYLOR COMPANY BpU D a Jaiioivtlt, Wit. ll Prlco $3 noatpald nrn laaiy. Woniofl Trlonc Wrlto for List or ftj volitions VV dIULU 1UU15 wnntocl. $1,000,000 In prizes , oflerod for Invonllons. -Our four hooka flout frco. l'ntont nocurcd or loo returned. Victor J. ISvhiih & Co., 12a 0th, Washington, D.O Little FiirniN in Shenandoah Valley of VIi-kIuIh, g and 10 aero tracts near good U.K. iiSo ami up, easy terms. Good unit. ertatle. poultry, and live Mo V ri unir, Srml fur lltrntuip no IP, A. Lailaume, Aprr'l Agt., N. & W. Ity,, HID Arcade Bid., Roanoke, Va. Poultry Catalog FREE Illustrates mid gives prices of 48 vnrlotles laud nntl water (owls and curb. This book should bo m tlio hands of overy person liitoroHtod in poultry for profit. Address H. A. lIUKMEt, lloi 4U, FUKIU'OIIT, ILL. MONEY ON PATENTS mmm Maa mmrvwm MMBaiainajMaja I booui'o your patont or return my foo. Manufacturers want Mills patents. .--Wrlto for froo booklet "How to got ',ryour patent and mako your profits thereon." I assist in selling your pat ont. MAN5I3LL F. MILLS, KcKlHtcrcil V. S. Patent Attorney, 204 Com. Nat'I panic llldg., AVahlngton, I). O. Who Owns Our Government? Cured His RUPTURE I was badly ruptured while lifting a trunk several years ago. Doctors said my only hopo of euro was an operation. Trusses did mo no good. Finally I got hold of something that quickly and domplotely cured me. Years have pass ed and the vupturo has novor roturned, although I am doing hard work as a carpenter. Thoro was no operation, no lost time, no trouble. I have nothing to sell, but will glvo full Information about how you man find a comploto ouro without operation, if you write to mo, Eugene M. Pullon, Carpontor, 469A Marcollus Avenue, Manasquan, N. J. Better cut out this notlco and show It to any others who aro ruptured you may savo a life or at least stop the misery of rupturo and tho worry and danger of an oporatlon. I tW Cftm.t nuur rw leetn I am doing St f otf others everyday. Ninety per cent of tho people have Pyorrhea or RIgga Dkcaso a terrible aiul ilanflrcroiia month and tooth infeo- tknthat destroys teoth, truma and jawa Beaiui, endangers . mlnuand powecs. i Sore Teeth Foul Breath Diseased Gums 4ta)Byr. Foe yea arable HomeTreatment symptoms of thla dread disease. 'eara ic naa oeen conaiucrca in llwve porrected a Mcantc rhlch vou can tnake vour month thy. save'ypur teeth, and health BBV&japBBBBffgi .bbHbH iMMUtuy. a&ve your teetn, ana noaith ad avoid the expaoae and torture of the dental chair, My Book H TeM Yon How FREE K fraabav !KMa omxtot ProrThMi. RtaaiTltl. fetMtut nmii olaen. 5tUor taath JtKnurt whn youcSawaaad tMabook. anntgauaitndwkhaat chtUU: r. r. W. WWanl, Tmn life, CWaga (Continued from Page 13) In 1851 the cities had nothing muoh of value to buy, sell or give away, and the constitution makers of 1851 simply did what their fathers had dono before them made tho stato legislature tho solo custodian of the city. Thus for sixty-three years tho cities have had to go to the legislature for permission to do anything and everything. It was not a question of doing or not doing just certain things but nothing at all could be done with out first obtaining permission from tho legislature. Legally wo could not sneeze or take a bath of our selves; and it was equally bad that tho legislature could impose any bour don, just or unjust, upon the cities. However, this was not so bad In 1851, when the city needed nothing and we had nothing to be stolen or that was worth while giving away; but conditions changed quickly. Every city now has profitable and unprofit able functions to perform. The un profitable ones are many, such as maintaining police and fire depart ments, and providing schools, sew erage systems, street cleaning, san itary regulations, etc. The profitable ones aro street cars, gas, electric light and water services. There was no scrap about the unprofitable ones; nobody wanted them, so tho city had to operate them. Not so with the profitable ones; and here is where our troublo started everybody wanted them. They wanted them so badly that tho most celebrated and highest priced la-wyers and political high waymen were employed, and' great bags of money wero sent out from New York, Philadelphia and else whero to get possession. Bribery, corruption and coercion wero used, but those were found rather risky for 'real' gentlemen. To .take something without the consent of tho ownor 1r stealing; with his consent, or even by request of 4he owner, is honor able. So the 'bags of money' organ ized and proceeded to get possession of the people's government through control of the political parties. EVERY CITY HAS ITS POLITICAL BOSS "To do this, they created th nnal- tlon of 'political boss,' who was made the confidential agent, tho go-between, of the new capitalistic organ ization. Nearly every city has one of these 'bosses.' Some are big, some little; some have been admitted to the 'throne room,' some get their orders in the back yard. .Combined, these bosses form tho 'political ma chine.' They are bi-partisan, and control both parties. The spoils system of office furnishes the work ing machinery. The first command ment of this orcanlzation rfiarlR! "Thou Shalt obey the party first, last and all the time, or thy name Is Mud." The second is, "Thou shalt promise the people everything dur ing election time, yea, even more, but after election deliver the goods, or thy name Is Mud again." This simple systeW has been a marvel in its operation. Our government of, by and for the people has silently slipped away from us Into the hands of the political boss machine, and is now operated of, by and for those 'bags of money to make them larger. SALOONS HAVE BECOME OUR POLITICAL EORUM "Unconsciously the breweriGs nnri saloons were drawn into this plan of conquest, as natural aids to the 'boss during tha campaign. The sa loon lias become the common meeting place of the people; it is open when all other doors are qlosed. 'There is cheer, in a glass of beer,' and the saloon hafl become the public forum, where political questions are thrash- ed out. To own the breweries and the saloons is worth an army in a political campaign; and so the 'bags of money' annexed liquor. Leading brewers were initiated into the se cret order "of the 'Political Machine and crowned 'Bosses.' Special, priv ileges were accorded the saloon, and to keep them interested and on the tiring line, unfavorable legislation was always kept dangling before them. They were jrnade to fight for their existence constantly, and while so doing were at the srime time un consciously 'putting something over' for tho 'bags of honey "But this activity of liquor In pol itics has become a great moral issue with the people; and while the 'un organized mass' can not fathom and successfully fight the political ma chine they seen! to know how to light moral questions. So liquor is facing two enemies the people who want to wipe it out, and the 'bags of money' who say, 'Fight for us or we will legislate you out'; rather a dif ficult position to occupy. I believe firmly that a new constitution is the only salvation for the saloon; liquor must get out of politics,,. or. politics will drive liquor out of the ;state. "So then we have a government made up as follows: "Kings 'Bags of Money "Cabinet the 'Political Machine "Cabinet "Officers The 'Bosses "They organize and maintain both political parties, choose all important officers, select the legislature and contr.ol it, and manage the elections; and no matter who wins, the king plays safe. His motto is, 'Heads I win, tails you lose, CONQUEST OP UTILITIES WAS EASY "After owning the governinetit, it became an easy matter for 'bags of money' to acquir the public utilities of our cities, the most profitable un dertakings, worth millions upon mil lions annually. But ownership alone was not enough. They wanted mon opoly ownership no competition and noninterference in rates, service and capitalization. To get all of these and hold them it was nRnfisnnrv that the cities remain in bondage to the legislature, the property of the kings; and not the least desirable part of it was to keep the cities help less, ignorant, fighting and bank rupt, by means of a hundre,d-year-old system of city government our present bi-partisan system of man aging our cities by political parties, the most disgraceful and glaring ex ample of a betrayed people that can be found anywhere, "The answer to mv nnnnfinn wh owns the government'? is, 'bags of money It has many offices. Some of the signs on the doors read, 'Street Car Company 'Gas Office 'Electric Light Company 'Water and Power Company 'John Smith, General Contractor and 'Holdup, Skinnem and Goodman, Attorneys WHAT IS THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM? "Suppose wo had a law under which every corporation had to em ploy a manager, and the manager ha-d the right to do as he pleased; that every contract of his was blnd- inS on vu law; and that you could not make a rnntron. ,, You could hire another manager when his contract expired; that's all How long would such a law last among individuals? Well, aming the unorganized mass' in Indiana it has lasted sixty-three years. We elect ? y4nana&era representatives to Sfi,ft?t?,l0Bl!,atupe- Aftr they are elected they turn their back on the people and obey the 'party'- anri t have told you who the 'party' is-.it is the 'bosses' who make laws for us and we can not atop them; and if we want lawa we have no means ot forcing the bosses to pass them Is that not foolish? To change this condition other people have adopted the initiative and referendum. In this for instance, every law passed by the legislature is held up thirty days and if 5 per cent of the voters sign a petition to protest the people vote on the law at the next election, if, on the other hand, the people want a law passed, and the legislature re fuses to act on it, the people can have it submitted to a vote. This initiative and referendum has al ready saved the people of Ohio many millions of dollars. It is incorpor ated in tho constitution of seventeen states, and in the city charters' of nearly 300 cities of this country, tho latest one being St. Louis, Mo. "President Wilson says: 'The im mediate thing we have got to do is to resume popular government. Wo are cleaning house, and in order to clean house the one thing we need is a good broom. The initiative and referendum are good brooms "Theodoro Roosevelt says! 'I be lieve in the initiative and referen dum, which should be used not to destroy representative government, but to correct it whenever it becomes misrepresentative NATURALLY THE GOVERNORS ARE AGAINST IT "Naturally the initiative and refer erendum is a big help to the 'gov erned and therefore is fought des perately by the 'governors Of late they have found that the people re ally want this law, and, will simply have It, so the new game is to help them get it, but to frame tho law themselves and stuff it full of 'jok ers In this way in over half of the seventeen states initiative and refer endum laws aro inoperative. The 'machine' passed the law'to "please the people, but made the law to please their own interests. i'INow to get back to the constitu tion? makers of 1851. You must ad mit they could, not foresee all of these conditions, any more than could 150 of the greatest men of our state frame a constitution at the present time that would provide for conditions sixty-three years hence. Our present constitution Is outworn, outclassed and helpless to protest the 'governed and because half of our political parties have becomo mere organizations to exploit the people. Our whole system of government is rotten to the core. Who pays the bills? The 'governed the 'unorgan ized mass the people. And who are the people? You and I and our neighbors nobody else. JOKER IN THE CONVENTION BILL "It is necessary, to understand this situation in order to appreciate the contemptible trap set for the people in the 'new constitution' movement, and the great danger our state is in. In order to check the growing de mand for a new constitution, the last legislature of 1913, machine owned as usual, passed a constitutional con vention bill. It is a good bill but they put in a 'joker' by which tho people themselves would kill it; and while the politcal party would claim full credit for this wholesome love(?) for the people, they could say, -'The people did not want a new constitu tion, therefore we will make one for them The joker was the old ono of requiring a 'majority of all votes cast instead of a 'majority voting thereon While under our constitu tion this provision is necessary in voting on constitutional amendments, it is not necessary in voting on a legislative bill. "A so-called error has also crept into the bill, the title being- different from-the text. Whether or not this "was designed as a second 'sop or r;- i i ,iMmlt:"' ' ' ,f- 'U-. .... XA