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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1915)
F1EWjr-jy The Commoner 30 VOL. 15, NO. 8 ""-."--"". w-sfgSff . V It J rf y i ; k; i . tt hi ' ''i 4 K J.v . fJ . Mr; Bryan's Resignation WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN From tho Jeffersonian, Los Angeles, Cal. The resignation of W. J. Bryan as secretary of state brings Into prom inence his courage and consistency. It also emphasize? the fact that he has always been true to hi3 convic tions since his first candidacy for the of the common people's desires and opinions. "That is the truth. "And never was that more true than In this critical time." No man moro truly and earnestly represents the common people than Mr. Bryan, and he "has far more ac curately judged the temper and the presidency in 1896, and that he has sentiment of his fellow citizens than o ,iotnf,i rnm , nrtnoiniDd f J those who eat government bread in democracy for personal gain or honor. ! Washington." We, sincerely thank No man in this country has ever been J tuc Examiner for its fairness, so beloved by the common people as How different is the tone of the has Mr. Bryan, and that love is great- Lffimes. Since the resignation of Mr. er and stronger today than ever be- Bryan was made public the Times fore. However much many demo- has not ceased in its efforts to be crats have differed with him, no syl lable ever passed the lips of honest little him. "It is. impossible for Mr. Bryan to be great," it says. "The and fairminded people derogatory to leopard can not change its spots. his character. He is a typical Amer ican, one of the greatest and one of the grandest the country has ever produced. He has. lost no prestige by resigning. Rather has he increased it. It is not the purpose at this time to analyze or criticise the opinions held by the administration regarding Gdrmany or any of the other bellig- Here is another phrase from the Times: "Mr. Bryan was not equal to the demands of the occasion; he was not large enough to endure a little personal mortification; he. chose to gratify his own spleen, hurt the pres ident and place the whole country in a false light in the eyes of foreign peoples." The Times can not lessen the stand erent nations. Neither do we feel ing of tne great Commoner with the called upon to' say whether or not . they are just and fair alike., to this, country and the European nations at var. Neither will we say the opiu- : ions of the administration, in so far as they, have been made public, are tinged with jingoism. We do not be lieve in hasty judgments based upon incomplete information. More, harm than good follows them. It is suffi cient to say that Mr, Bryant's positiqn is clear and unmistakable. And how ever much iis resignation may be re gretted and deplored, it was the only step ho could consistently take, and we honor him for it. Mr. Bryan would resort to war on ly after all honorable measures had been exhausted to prevent it. The Examiner of Wednesday contains an editorial, under the caption, "The Spirit of the Nation Is for Peace and Justice," remarkable for its phrase ology and admirable for the senti ment it conveys. We take from it tho following extract, which fairly ex presses the position of Mr. Bryan, end no one will acouse the Examiner of being at any time favorable to Bryan. It reads: "That majority believes in practic ing still the strict neutrality which tho president preached so earnestly ten months ago. "That majority cai see no reason at all why American blood should be spilled to save Great Britain cjhd her -allies from defeat any mbge" than American blood should be spilled to save Germany and her allies from defeat. "That majority can see no reason Why British aggressions upon our commerce should not be resented and German agg-essions upon our com- - merce should be resented. ' "That majority .can see no reason why Americans should attempt to dictate io Germany how she should . carry on warfare with Great Britain any more than Americans should at- , tempt to dictate to Great Britain how 'she shall carry on warfare with Ger- many. "That majority is willing to spend the laBt dollar raid risk the last life in an American quarrel, and is stern ly i willing to spend a dollar or lose a life in a German quarrel with Great I Britain or a British quarrel with Ger- many. "Mr. Wilson ha3 declared not once only, but many times, that the voice -r of the plain people could not be heard ; in Washington; that the truth is sel- dam heard in those political circles; " ilit the environment is highly un ffYbrjtble to any right appreciation plain people. That is not its inten tion. It knows that Mr. Bryan has the greatest political following any man ever had in the United States, and through three presidential cam paigns this following was never prac tically lessened in numbers. It knows that in each of the three campaigns Mr. Bryan's popular vote was much larger than the popular vote for Mr. Wilson. The Times' purpose, there fore is not so much to injure Bryan as it is to strike a deadly blow at the democratic party. Its pretended ad miration for the foreign policies of President Wilson is of the same char acter, and all may bo fittingly char acterized as "rank hypocrisy." It says: "Mr. Bryan is your actor man." This is mere assertion with not a par ticle of evidence to sustain it. This is low-down politics, and at this crit ical time should receive the condem nation of every lover of his country. Keep in mini the fact that when ever an organ of special privileges heaps abuse on Mr. Bryan, it strikes at the democratic party. The Times has no love for the common people. That is why it strikes at Mr. Bryan. MK.V BRYAN'S RESIGNATION ' Mr. Bryan's resignation, as secre tary of $tate has evoked a lafge amount of caustic comment, especial ly by the jingo press and the wor shippers of tho bKrotiy god Mars. In uie lace oi many obstacles and vicious taunts, he did his best to promote tho interests of peace between this country and all other nations. His thirty arbitration treaties, so much ridiculed by short-headed and narrow-minded individuals, will remain a monument to tho Christian states manship of William Jennings Bryan when his detractors shall bo snearfid at as the enemies of mankind. Only a poor judge of human nature be lieves that wars will ever ceaso so long as the earth stands. Any man of common senpe, with a knowledge of history and human nature as they actually are, knows that the day will never arrive, before the final cata clysm, when international strife will cease: but every step honestly taken by statesmen to make war less prob able is a step forward. The con sciences of the bolter men of every state will approve what William Jen nings Bryan has done for the avoid ance of war and bloodshed between iuu imuona. William Jennings Bryan has per formed the heroic act of trying to carry out his Christian faith regard less of consequences to himself per sonally. He has tried to make this nation act according, to tho precepts of Christ and to accept tho conse quences the material loss, the blows to vanity, the jeers of the ignorant, the contempt of tho worshippers of war. The bully, the militarist, the rowdy in a silk hat, are too coarse-grained to appreciate a Christian character like William Jennings Bryan. He found that he could not carry his ideals into effect, and, like Mr. More ley in the British cabinet, resigned from office. If he had been indis pensable to the administration, he would no doubt have remained and done his duty to the best of his abllt ity; but Mr. Bryan was not indispens able. Some will say he should have resigned when the first note was pre pared for Germany; but that is all a matter of opinion. Even though Mr. Bryan has committed a tactical mis take as to the timeliness of his res ignation, the essential fact remains that-ho did resign and resigned be cause his conscience as a Christian statesman no longer permitted him to remain in Mr. Wilson's cabinet as the secretary of state. The verdict of the metropolitan press is a false and vindictive conclu sion which will not harmonize with the judgment of history. Mr. Bryan is one of the ablest statesmen living, and certain editors of metropolitan papers are but pygmies intellectually in comparison with him. He is pro nounced Christian statesman. That is one reason why certain publicists and leaders of American politics have no use for him. He is too much of a Christian to fit into their scheme of international politics. They are too intense in their propaganda to en mesh our country in the European war to admit that Mr. Bryan is a man of ideals infinitely loftier than their own. - These same jingoists do not hesi tate to ascribe to Mr. Bryan the ineau' motive of playing a political5 game with a view to entering the presiden tial candidacy. Mr. Bryan may be a candidate for president again. The people know a true man when they see him, in spite of the detractions of a lower order of men. In the meantime, Mr. Bryan has acted tho Christian statesman. w only wish that there were more of his kind among the leaders of thought and action in our country. Editorial from official organ of a branch of the Lutheran church. PUTTING A CITY GOVERNMENT ON A BUSINESS BASIS. v.uonunuea rrom Page Twenty-Seven) are in need of work at a time when their work is not needed in other channels; and it will enable contract ors, farmers and other employers of labor to secure men, during the busy seasons, during summer building and harvest when they have, to have a??s S?d a unable t0 secure them, fi avVLcity charter Provides that vu u.Du uuuoa or tne funds to be used in the various departments of the city shall be decided by a major--lUtQ T enable the' commission funtefnlnH lligen,tly in the ma"er of funds for the various departments for extension, maintenance and develon SSSJ ??dflfor he cuncii to Tete? mine jointly what developments and extensions for the coming year are heeded in the various departments the mayor recommends tha each commissioner submit to the connnll at the earliest possible moment ad tailed estimate for all extension de velopment and improvement needed n their respective departments and which they desire to recommend for totC0Gtheern f 53l So daHmt.earngement of the lically, -safely ndu SX I w"v" handled in accordance with fw tent of the charter and oSinawJ? ness principles be carried out n? fa as possible the mayor recommen and requests that his. recomTenda turns for the redistribution and establishment of work of the co missioners be considered first; That the recommendations as to the S cessity of appropriations for the rt ditional department and suggestion" which he has i.commended be on sidered second; and that third tho recommendations for extensions de velopments and improvements recom mended by the various commissioners for their respective departments be considered in connection with th mayor's recommendations for addi tional, departments and specific appro priations, after which the budgets shall be made up by the commission ers in joint session by a majority vote. 23. It is recommended that the su perintendent of public accounts and finances submit as early as possible for the considera'tion of the commis sioners an estimata of all moneys that 'will be on hand at the end of the fiscal year? the amount of money that will be raised1 by taxation and an es timate of all other funds and receipts subject to use. for the operation of the city's- business affairs. The mayor believes' after investigation that the additional departments and specific appropriations to carry out the recommendation made by him can be provided for by an equitable distribu tion of the public moneys between the various departments of the city's activities apportioned on a basis of the public service in the various departments. rf NEBRASKA STATE FAIR The Nebraska State Fair, to be held at Lincoln, Nebraska, September , 7, 8, 9, 10 and' 11, "will be an expo sition of unusual interest throughout Nebraska and the middle-west. No where ejse CQuld a few days' visit give one a better idea of the great resources of Nebraska and the reason why it occupies such an important place in the agricultural world. This year's fair will have an unusually large list of exhibits, drawn not only from Nebraska, but from a number of other states in the great corn belt and other sections of the country. The state fair management has pro vided many attractive features for the comfort, entertainment and en joyment of its thousands of visitors. The educational features of the fair 'are given particular attention, and a high standard is maintained througu out all departments. A visit to the Nebraska state fair will be a source of inspiration, enjoyment and profit. SAVED HIS LIFE It is probable that no class of men is Tampooned more unjustly than doctors. Many of the stories at their expense, however, tfre both amusing and good natured. A recent addition to the .list is he tale told about tho Chinaman who was asked if thero were good doctors in China. JGood doctors!" he exclaimed. "China have best doctors in world. Hang Chang one gooi -doctor; he great, ho saved my life." "You don't say so! How was that?" "Me velly bad,? he . said. "Mo callee Doctor Han Kon. Give some medicine. Get velly, velly ill. callee Doctor San Sing. Give more medicine. Me crow worse oin& l die. Blimebly callee Doctor Hang Chang. He got no time; no come. He -sayed my life." Tit-Bits. Luke MeLuke has discovered that the way to avoid having enemies is w "say nothing, be 'nothing, do notu ing" . j n