The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, January 01, 1917, Page 4, Image 4
flJT The Commonei VOL. 17, NO. 1 I is. i & : . I, & t ' The Gommoner ISSUED MONTHLY , Entorcd at tho Postonico at Lincoln, Nebraska, na'aocond-clasn matter. "WILLIAM J. BRYAN, CHARLES W. BRYAN Editor and Proprietor Asaoclato Ed. and Publisher Edit Rmfl. and Bualnonfl OnTco, Sulto 207 PrcfiB Bldff. Ono YcHr fl.00 Kix MobIIin 60 In Clubs of Five or moro, por year.. .75 Tlirco MoHthn . ... 4Jf HIhkIo Cniy .10 Kamplo Coplcn Froo. Foreign Post, 2Go Extra SUHSOltirTlONS can bo aent direct to Tho Com moner. They can alua bo sont through newnpapcra which havo advertlacd a clubbing rate, or through local agents, whero auch agents havo been ap pointed. All remittances should bo sent by poat ofllco mdnoy order, express dfder, or by bank draft on Now York or Chicago. Do not send individual checks, stamps, or currency. RENEWALS Tho date on your wrapper shows tho tlmo to which your subscription Is paid. Thus January ID mean that payment has been received to and including tho Issue of January, 1910. CHANGE OF ADDRESS Subscribers requesting a chaugo of address must givo old as well as new address. ADVERTISING Rates will bo furnished upon application. Address all communications to THE COMMONER, LINCOLN, NED. TO REGULATE INTERSTATE PASSENGER RATES Congressman Illlliard of Colorado introduced the following bill in tho house of representatives January 2, 1917, which was rof erred to tho committee on Interstate and foreign commerce and orderod to bo printed: A bill fixing interstate passenger rates in cer tain circumstances. Bo it enacted by the senate and house of rep resentatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, That-oreafter no person, association, company, or corporation engaged in interstate public passenger-carrying service shall chargo, exact, or receive for the transporta tion ot & paasongor from ono state to another state or through any number of states any sum in excess of tho sum of the local passenger-carrying rfftcs over tho lino of travolvcovered by tho interstate trip. Sec. 2. That any violation of tho provisio.ns of the first section hereof by tho agent or other representative of atty such public carrier of passengers shall constitute a misdemeanor, and conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction shall subject tho offender to a fine of not more than $100 nor less than $25, and by imprisonment for not more than six months nor less than thirty days: Provided, That viola tions of this act by tho agent shall be held and deemed to have beon done b" such agent and by the owner and principal executive officers of any such public carrier of. passengers. The Commoner will be glad to keep In touch with tho papers throughout the oountry that are advocating prohibition, and to that end will be pleased to exchange with such papers upon ap plication. Such exchanges are invited to make such use as they like of anything that appears in Tho Commoner, whether editorial or hews matter, and Tho Commoner will, in like man ner, collect from other papers to the extent it has rooni for reproduction. ' This is tho season of tho year when the green legislator arid the equally well informed editor declare that "the time is ripe for the wiping out of a lot ofcselesB statutes instead of adding moro to The laws already in force. The criti cism would have greater force if the critics would bo able to agree what laws are useless. A farmer might have a different opinion on the subject than a railroad- president. 4 i ) ") COMMONER READERS: WILL YOU KINDLY, SEND TO THIS OFFICE THE NAMES 'AND ADDRESSES 01? ALL DEMOCRATIC 'AND INDEPENDENT VOTERS' WHOM YOU BELIEVE WILL ASSIST MR. BRYAN IN DRIVING THE LtQUOR INTERESTS OUT OF THE NA TION. MAY HE DEPEND UPON YOU TO J)0 THIS AT ONOE. i ' r ' $ r J i u- To the Governors and Legislatures of the Various States I beg to bring to your attention an imperative need in the hope that consideration of tho sub ject will lead to action during this winter's legislative sessions. Ours is a government deriving its Just powers from the consent of the governed a govern ment in which the people rule. The principle is not only accepted in this country but It is growing throughout the world and is destined to become the basis of all governments. Tho value of representative government, how ever, depends very largely upon the intelligence with which the voters decide questions sub mitted to them and select those who are to speak for them; and Intelligence rests upon in formation. No man can act intelligently upon a subject until he in Informed in regard to it. It would seem, therefore, to be the imperative duty of the government to insure, inaofar as it can, the spread of accurate information in re gard to the questions that are at issue. So far we haveelied entirely upon the public press, without giving sufficient consideration of tho fact that those who own the newspapers are not always interested in aiding the public to a clear understanding of tho subject discussed. Even if wo could assume that thoBe in control of tho newspapers always desired to deal fairly with the subjects under discussion, there are two general causes which may prevent the car rying out of the good purpose of thtf publisher. Tho first is, partisanship. The owner of the newspaper has, as a rule, a political bias, and that bias may unconsciously, even if not con sciously, lead him to present his side more fully than the side of the opposition. But what is more serious, the newspaper may have a pecu niary interest on one side that, consciously or unconsciously, may prevent the bringing before the public of very important facts. In view of the situation as we now find it, I venture to suggest the propriety of establishing in every commonwealth a state bulletin pub lished at intervals of, say, one month, or even FEDERAL COUNCIL -OF CHURCHES ACTS The following resolution was adopted at the quadrennial meeting of the Federal Council of the Church of Christ, held at St. Louis in De cember, 1916: ''The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, composed of members ap pointed by Christian bodies with eighteen mil lions of communicants, extends to the Christian brethren in countries now engaged in war its deepest sympathy, born of Christian faith and brotherhood. Our hearts have been touched, as we havo learned of the sufferings that war has brought, and have been stirred by the reports of the deepening of the Christian spirit through sorrow and self-devotion. "We pray that their tragic experience may inspire us all to a deeper loyalty to the spiritual realities in which believers In Christ are one, and that the time may soon come when differ ences between nations shall be adjusted in the. spirit of the gospel of Christ rather than by ap peal to arms. Especially do we hope that the present war may come to a speedy end, and call upon all Christians throughout the world to co-operate in an effort to establish a peace that shall be lasting "because based on justice -tand goodwill. "We, therefore, instruct our executive com mittee jtoextend this expression of our Christian sympathy and this appeal to the churches of Christ to the brethren beyond the seas, and au thorize it to adopt such methods in so doing as may seem to it effective and expedient." Charles L. Stelzle, Federal Council of Churches, New York. The peace conference, when it assembles, will furnish" the representative of Christianity an opportunity to offer the philosophy of Christ in the place of the philosophy of Pilate the phil osophy which is responsible for the present war. The nations of tho old world have built their . quarterly between campaigns, and at shorter in tervals during campaigns. The management of this publication should be in the hands of a bi partisan board so that it will not be conducted along partisan lines. I would suggest a board composed of three persons, one selected by the governor, one se lected by the majority in the legislature and one selected by the minority in the legislature. This would always Insure representation of any considerable opposition, as well as representa tion of the dominant party. The publication ought to set forth all of the important things done by the state government and, what is not less important, should give sufficient space for editorials the editorial space to be divided be tween the parties, of recognized standing, in proportion to the voting strength of the parties at tho last general election. Such a publication, sent free, to every voter, would make it possible for every citizen to un derstand just what his government was doing, and the editorial discussion would enable him to know what was to be said for and against the course pursued by the dominant party. In this way every voter would have the information necessary for intelligent action and no one who has the interest of his state at heart can oppose any means necessary to the enlightenment of those upon whom the state has cast responsibility- for the control of the government. The plan is presented in brief, with no inten tion of suggesting details, but the idea is capable of application to the federal government as well as to the state government, and is applicable also to municipal governments as well, where the cities are large enough to raise the presump tion that the individual citizens need such a di rect avenue of information. W. J. BRYAN. (Note: Readers of The Commoner who approve will please bring the above editorial to the at tention of the officials for whom it is intended.) hope of peace on their ability to excite fear; they have tried to terrorize each other into peace.. They have allowed militarists to set up false standards of honor and to give a threaten ing tone to their diplomacy. The time is ripo for the substitution of love for hatred and the spirit of co-operation for the spirit of combat. It has been popular to argue that justice must come before love. That is not the order on Christ's teachings. ''Love you- enemies" was the law he proclaimed. Love comes first and brings justice with it. The churches will have a supreme opportunity to put their religion to the test; it is of the highest importance that they measure up to the opportunity. W. J. BRYAN. The national capital representatives of the New York newspaper and periodical press seem to have grown tired of trying to submarine Secretary Daniels of the navy department. At least they have .not been launching any tor pedoes in his direction lately. It is a remark able fact that none of them discovered how in competent a man Mr. D niels was as head of the navy until he issued his order banishing booze from tho war vessels that float the flag. The surest sign of being a "liberal" on the booze question is the immediate proscription of a pub lic man who strikes a blow at the liquor traffic. It would be interesting " to know if those strong advocates of universal military training who have been insisting that the proper way to ascertain whether woman suffrage was desirable was to submit the matter to a vote of the wo men of the country would be willing to leave it to the fathers and mothers of tho country whether they desired their boys to be trained for war. It is suspected that noneof tho daily news papers allowed their fear of a white-paper fam ine to communicate itself to the gentlemen who paid foVthe holiday advertising. ' ' A". ' "- u