Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1915)
The Commoner VOL. 15, NO. 2 Lincoln, Nebraska, February, 1915 Whole Number 670 The Ship Purchase Bill The ship purchase bill which provides for the creation of a corporation, a majority of the stock of which shall he controlled by the government, empowered to secure, by purchase or otherwise, a lino of ships to be controlled by the govern ment, is oiie of the most important measures of recent years. There are two arguments in favor of the bill: First: That government controlled ships are needed PERMANENTLY to establish new trade routes and extend our foreign commerce; and Second: That government owned ships are needed at this time to give additional facilities during the war and to protect the public from extortionate rates. Ndt;only are the shipping facilities insufficient at present, but freight rates have risen in some cases more than seven hundred per cent since thewar began- -The president- and: his" admin istraUon are-behind the bill, aria the country now knows enough of the president to know how much force he can put behind a measure con structed in the interest of the public. The theoretical opposition to the bill is based upon objection to government-ownership in the matter of ships. But, like the opposition to the postal savings bank, which represented the pecu niary interests of the banks, and liLe the opposi tion to the parcel post, which represented the pecuniary interests of the express companies, the opposition to the ship purchase bill represents the pecuniary interests of the private shipping interests, foreign and coastwise. Seven deiriocrats are acting with the repub licans, but the democrats have secured the sup port of enough progressive republicans to give them .a majority, and the seven democrats are likely to have the mortificaton of defeat as well as the criticism which their desertion of their party has aroused. If the filibuster continues for the remainder pf the session the president may bo compelled to call a special session of congress, and in the new congress the demo cratic majority will be increased and the pro gressive element of the party will bo even stronger than it is now. . The fight over the ship purchase bill, while irritating, will serve a useful purpose, for it brings out into bold relief the president's devo tion to the public interests and the party's es pousal of the people's side of a great question. The republicans have, without knowing it, strengthened the president's popularity with the masses by compelling him to do the things which prove both his courage and his fidelity. W. J. BRYAN. CLOTURE IN THE SENATE COMING The action of tho democratic caucus Sat urday, in endorsing cloture, is tho beginning of tho end of the barbarous rules that have bound the senate for several generations. Un limited debate, when wisely employed, has its advantages, but it is a power that can not safely bo entrusted to a partisan minority. It denies to the majority tho right to rule. It gives tho pro sumption of wisdom and patriotism to the few rather than to the many. But it is doomed, and with the change the senate will become a popu lar body, in reality responsible to tho people's will. It is another reform added to tho import ant list of reforms achieved by tho democratic party during its brief control of public affairs. It may be some time yet before the democrats will be able to make tho change, but the change is coming-, and the day of its adoption should bo a day of general rejoicing. It has bepn tho bul wark of plutocracy tho last trench to which the decreasing band of reactionaries could, re treat. Hail to. the change, and' lionor to those who are joining to bring it about. W. J. BRYAN, THE' SEVEN DISSENTING DEMOCRATS The seven democrats who aro acting with the republicans on the ship purchase bill are Bank head of Alabama, Camden of Kentucky, Clarke of Arkansas Hardwlck of Georgia, Hitchcock of Nebraska, O 'Gorman of New York and Varda man of Mississippi. Bankhead, Clarke, Camden, Hardwlck and Vardaman have democratic col leagues from their states who are supporting the bill. Senator Hitchcock of Nebraska has no democratic colleague, but Senator Norrls of Ne braska, a progressive, is acting with tho demo crats. Senator O'Gorman of New York has no democratic colleague, but Is acting on tho ship purchase bill with his republican colleague, Sen ator Root. I The blue book Issued by the United States Brewers' association gives the interesting infor mation that "beer may be substituted for bread." The brewers are too modest. It has been sub stituted for bread quite often, as a number of beer drinkers' families can testify. If you read an editorial in favor of the liquor traffic, look for liquor advertisments. Why don't they put the liquor ads. on the editorial page? CONTENTS THE SHIP PURCHASE BILL CLOTURE IN THE SENATE COMING OPPOSING THE INCOME TAX THE SEVEN DISSENTING DEMOCRATS POSTOFFICE PRIMARIES DESERVING DEMOCRATS FOREIGN TRADE A REGULATION THAT REGULATES INCREASING RAELROAD RATES PRESIDENT VETOES THE IMMIGRA TION BILL NEUTRALITY THE PROPOSED EMBARGO ON ARMS AND AMMUNITION WORK OF THE PRESIDENT'S CABDflBT CURRENT TOPICS Opposing the Income Tax A press dispatch from Chicago to the Wash ington Post announces that "Bankers, lawyom and business men hero gcnorally join In condom nation of tho incomo tax law, which some have declared to bo stupid 'failure to fill tho gap ia tho treasury caused by equally stupid tariff tin kering.' " Tho article goes on to say that tho people have less money with which to buy and "are saddled with an incomo tax." Tho protest is not now but it is unavailing. When tho supremo court, by a majority of one, held unconstitutional tho Incomo tax of twenty years ago, those responsible for tho opposition then little thought of tho trouble which they were laying up for themselves. As long as the question could bo fought In tho courts the op ponents of an Income tax could claim that they represented public sentiment, but the decision compelled tho adoption of a constitutional amendment, and when that amendment went before tho country it was ratified by three-fotirOm of the states; republican states a3 well as demo cratic states hastened to set their seal of ap proval upon this method of taxation. Tho un equivocal endorsement of the principle of the income tax, now sanctioned by constitutional au thority, silences opposition. "The people are not saddled with an income tax." Tho returns show that considerably less than 1 per cent of the people pay the income tax. Not even all of the "bankers, lawyers, and bus iness men" pay an income tax. A few escaped their share of taxation, so long as our revenue were collected through taxes placed on consump tion these aro now compelled to contribute morp nearly their share of the expense of the government. The Incomo tax will not bo repeal ed; even the republican party, if in power, would hardly dare to repeal the incomo tax. Tho coun try is making progress away from injustice and toward equity in the distribution of the burdens of the. government and it will not turn back to the old system which overburdened the masses in fact made them pay practically all tho taxes while the privileged interests monopolized the advantages of government. W. J. BRYAN. Democratic ideas aro growing. After having inspected the excellent workings of tho federal reserve bank system placed into successful oper ation by Secretary McAdoo, the Kansas senate is seriously considering creating a central bank that shall do for tho state what the federal re serve bank does for the nation. Democratic reforms continue to march on. The republican state senate of New York, when it recently organized, took from the lieutenant governor his time-honored prlvilego of naming 'tlio committees of that body and performed tbe job themselves. CI , y 1 n 3 ' f it. u .
