WflT- -Tny T,,, yw,'V'.-riH-Firvvqri-'' -v.- ilp'ffTimp-Mf'.pPwiTffWiPlJ?AP ' The Commoner VOL 15, NO. 4 Lincoln, Nebraska, April, 1915 Whole Number 672 A False Cry Evidence accumulates that the predatory In terests are preparing to wage the next national campaign under false pretenses. Recalling the success which they have achieved in past years by deception and misrepresentation they have evidently determined to repeat their efforts to obliterate in the public mind the line between honest business and the favor-seeking corpora tion; the "plunder bund," seeking to hide behind legitimate enterprises and claiming for itself the immunity that, by common consent, is granted to corporations properly organized and honestly conducted, and the subsidized newspapers, whoso support the privileged interests are always able to command, these are clamoring for a return to the days when business "will be free from at tack; when enterprise will be encouraged and thrift appreciated." For a generation the bene ficiaries of special legislation the corporations Which, either because of unfair laws or in the absence of laws that should be enacted, have col lected tribute upon the public all are in full cry for a return of "the good old days" when officials were lifted into place and power by cor ruption funds, when the republican party sold legislation at public auction and gave immunity in return for contributions. What has the democratic party done to disturb any HONEST business man? To say that the cure of recognized and admitted abuses is an attack on business is like calling a physician a .murderer when, in the patient's interest, heV lances a boil. The democratic party has been lancing boils only a few, to be sure, but they were boils .that had come to a head and were ready to open. What business interest has been injured by democratic legislation? To what business has in justice been done? The new tariff law is the most equitable that we have had in a generation. Insofar as it has reduced the profits of protected interests, it has simply taken from them the pow er that they have heretofore employed to tax the multitude. It is true that we now collect through an income tax part of the revenue that was formerly collected through import duties, and there's the rub. Men who would bo ashamed to openly condemn the income tax are seeking to find some excuse for returning to power the party that tried to prevent the adoption of the Income tax. Surely the consumers will be lack ing in appreciation of the service rendered them if they permit the election of a president, a sen ate, or a house hostile to the income tax. What is there in the new currency law to which any legitimate enterprise can take excep tion? Every business man should raise his voice in thanksgiving for the benefits which it con-' fers; every small banker should appreciate the aid extended to him, and that, too, largely with out any effort on his part. One can hardly find It in his, heart to blame the small bankers for having joined in the protest against the currency. bill BEFORE it was passed, for they acted under coercion thoy were in danger of being crushed in the folds of the financial serpent and were not in a position to protect themselves. Only tho big financiers have reason to complain of tho cur rency law and their only complaint Is that their grip upon tho nation's throat has been broken. What fair-dealing corporation has boon in jured by the anti-trust legislation? Tho Clay ton law and tho law providing for a trade com mission have brought a boon to the ninety-nino worthy corporations by restraining tho one-hundredth corporation which sought to eliminate competition. No corporation need be afraid of the anti-trust laws, new or old, so long as it re spects the law of competition and endeavors to furnish good quality at a fair price. Corpora tions engaged in legitimate business and thoy constitute the vast majority may bo compared to those engaged in the industry of horse 'rais ing, while the comparatively few predatory cor porations may bo likened to those who make horse stealing their occupation. To accuse tho democratipparty .of attacking business merely because it has declared war on mothqds which Violate the moral Jaw, as well as the statutes, Is as senseless as it would bo to condemn tho law against horse stealing on tho ground that it was an interference with the horse industry of tho country. It is a reflection upon tho intelligence of tho masses to assume that they can be deceived by tho hue and cry which is now being raised by In dustrial pirates under the plea of "protecting business." The selfishness and sordidness of this attempt to deceive the public ought to havo been apparent even before the democratic party had an opportunity to put its principles and pol icies into practice; surely deception ought to bo impossible now when the people not only see, but enjoy tho benefits pt tho legislation framed on the theory that this, being a government of the people, and by the people, should also bo FOR the people administered according to tho maxim "equal rights to all and special prlvillges to none." W. J. BRYAN. CONTENTS A FALSE CRY "THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH" DELIBERATE DISTURBANCE OF BUSI NESS PROHIBITION IN GREAT BRITAIN IOWA DEMOCRACY'S OPPORTUNITY THE DRDtfK BILL OF THE NATIONS IOWA'S NATIONAL COMMITTEEMAN A REPUBLICAN WIELDS THE AXB POSTAL THRIFT MR. BRYAN. ON "WHY I LECTURE" A CASE IN POINT PRESIDENT WILSON'S BUSINESS MESSAGE MR. BRYAN ON TOTAL ABSTINENCE TO WASHINGTON BANK CLERKS "The Wages of Sin Is Death" Last fall Mr. Roger Sullivan gave tho state of Illinois to tho republican l-arty; this spring ke turned ovor tho city of Chicago to tho republi cans. Having control of tho state organization ho gave tho democrats of tho stnto their choice botwoon hlmHclf and defeat when confronted with, this alternative thoy decided that defeat was to bo preferred to 'a democracy porsonlfled by Mr. Sullivan and tho kind of politics for which he stands. In tho city of Chicago he also dominated tho organization and gave the demo crats of that city tholr cholco between a Sullivan-controlled city and defeat thoy, too, chose tho latter. Is his revenge against progressiva democracy satisfied or does ho contemplate still further assaults? Governor Dunne, a progressive democrat, pre sides over tho great commonwealth of minors, and Mayor Harrison, a progressive democrat, presides as chief executive of tho city of Chicago, but Sullivan, an enemy of both, deliberately plotted to deliver tho party in both city and state to the reactionaries. It was "rule or ruin" and, not being able to rule, he proving again tho old truth "THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH." How long will It take the rank nnd file of the party In Chicago and Illinois to learn the folly of following such leadership? Tho only hope of success tho only hope of good government lies In a constructive policy along progressive lines, and in the entrusting of tho management of the party to those who work for tho advance ment of the public weal. The democratic party has put its hand to the plow of reform and will not turn back. Under the guidance of our splen did progressive president It Is entering upon a new era and it is entering that new era with con fidence; Its aims are lofty, i""j standards aro high; it is time for the Illinois division of the army to change its organization and get in step with the democracy of tho nation. Its experiment with Sullivanism is too costly to be repeated; tho op portunities to render service are too great to be thrown away; the issues are too important to be trifled with. W. J. BRYAN. DELIBERATE DISTURBANCE OF BUSINESS On another page will bo found an editorial which recently appeared in tho New York World entitled "AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE." The editori al quotes a few sentences from tho utterances of President Thomas, of the Lehigh Valley railroad. Tho World is none too severe in its denunciation of the plainly stated purpose of Mr. Thomas and those for whom he speaks to prevent the return of prosperity, with a view to coercing the publie Into tho adoption of his political views. Mr. Thomas, though conspicuous, is mroly the rep, resentativo of a certain class of corporation offi cials, who, presuming upon their business i portance, attempt to Intimidate the v6teri . 'fi Ljffl 'LuiVik.: