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The Commoner
JULY, W17
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Why Not Loan to
Mexico?
The following dispatch appeared in the morn
ing papers of July 19th:
"Mexico City, July 9. President Carranza
sent to congress tonight a message asking for
special authorization to negotiate a loan of 50,
000,000 pesos, to he used to rehabilitate the rail
and other roads. This is the third: special poi
mission asked within a few days, the first being
for a loan of 100,000,000 pesos to start a gov
ernment bank and 150,000,000 pesos for the
expenses of the government.
"Reports are in circulation that the govern
ment has been assured that it could borrow
500,000,000 pesqs, equivalent to $250,000,000,
from American bankers, but no firms are men
tioned." Why not a government loan to Mexico? The
Spanish-speaking republics are being eaten up
by high interest rates and the United States is
the only nation that can help them. All they
need is our credit the people will furnish the
money. Let Mexico be invited to issue a 5 per
cent bond to be exchanged for 3& per cent
bonds of the United States. Then let the one
and one-half per cent difference be put in a
sinking fund to retire the principal of the Mex
ican bonds and Mexico will be in a position to
develop her resources.
In other words, let the United States show
her interest in Mexico by underwriting bonds
issued for internal improvement and education,
and our friendship will have a cash value.
Mexico will have no fear of the Monroe Doc
trine when it is accompanied by concrete evi
dence of our willingness to help our sister re
public on the south. The same aid ought to be
extended to Nicaragua and other Latin-American
cojntries, but Mexico, our nearest neigh
bor, would be a good country to begin with.
W. J. BRYAN.
Following is an extract from an address de
livered by Mr. Bryan before the Pan-American
Scientific Congress, Washington, D. C, January
3, 1916, in which he suggested the need of fi
nancial co-operation between the United States
and the republics of Latin-America:
"I ask your pardon for repeating here a sug
gestion which I made last June at a banquet
given in connection "with the Pan-American
Commercial congress then assembled in Wash
ington. It is that the government of the United
States should, if desired by any of the republics
of Latin America, underwrite bonds, issued by
them for the development of their resources.
During my connection with the state department
I had opportunity to learn of the enormous
burden thrown upon the smaller republics of
Central and South America by the high interest
rates which they were compelled to pay, and I
became convinced that these high interest rates
not only worked an injustice to the countries
that paid them and retarded the proper devel
opment of those countries, but that these loans,
often the best that could be secured under ex
isting conditions, sometimes caused insurrec
tions and revolutions. After dealing with these
conditions officially for two years I reached the
conclusion that the government of the United
states could show Its good will toward Latin
America in no better way than by playing the
Part of a prosperous friend to these republics,
oy lending its credit to support loans necessary
jor legitimate development work. The United
states, being able to "borrow at a low rate,
S d ACCEPT THE BONDS OF NEIGHBOR
JEPUBLICS DRAWING A MUCH LOWER
tCott?,0F INTEREST THAN THOSE" NOW
ibbUED, AND HOLD THEM AS SECURITY
maY P 0WN bONDS, ISSUED AT THE NOR
m,n ATE' To Wustrato what I mean, let 'us
suppose a case. .If one of the republics of
pan i South America, now paying 6 per
umt interest or more, desired to enter upon
borne work of development, it could issue its
ernS dawin&. say 4 per cent, and our gov
own ? iCould accePt them as security for its
rato ?tS drawinS 3 per cent, or such higher
betLaS ? market demanded, the difference
lieln, rate paid h? tbe borrowing repub
to hi rate paid on tne United States bonds
ue turned into a sinking fund to retire the
development bonds. This plan would slvo to
creditTfThnnTA03 tho adv $ thS
creuit of the United States and enable them to
make a largo IMMEDIATE saving in interest
tttlt? 8avIng that would a""uo to them
anco could bn?' f l7!r boml8' Such a
Sn5 b rendercd by tho United States
without any appreciable risk, and it would not
J?? a,d t,helrePubllc insisted but it would tuS
"AND PHARAOH HARDENED HIS HEART"
MnWfrm,B0rlin rccalIa th0 language of tho
Bible when Moses was seeking to free tho child-
ITJ f,?Pio1 f!om bondaEo: "And Pharaoh hard
ened his heart at this time also, neither would
he let tho poople go."
As the people of Germany grow more insist
ent in their demands for reforms tho kaiser,
supported by the military party, grows moro de
termined not to yield up th3 arbitrary power
that makes him tho lingering representation of
autocratic authority.
To know the fato that fcwaits him one need
only read Exodus history will repeat itself:
Whom the gods would destroy they first make
mad." It i3 evident that tho kaiser is mad. Tho
fall is only a matter of time.
AN EASY CHOICE
A German-American who loft tho Fatherland
to become an American citizen ought to have no
difficulty In deciding which to choose now, for
the United States has been growing better whilo
Germany has surrendered moro and moro to
militarism. If wo win wo will to some extent
at least Americanize Germany; if Germany
should by any possibility win she would Ger
manize the United States. It Is an easy choico.
THE CHINESE REPUBLIC SAFE
The defeat of the Manchu attempt to over
throw the Chinese republic will bo gratifying to
every American. In thus thwarting for a sec
ond time tho attempt to return to monarchy tho
people of China prove their devotion to tho prin
ciples of popular government. Success to tho
first republic of the Orient and its sturdy defenders.
THE LULL BEFORE THE STORM
The change in ministry at Berlin does not in
dicate improvement, but a reactionary step at
this time may be the thing necessary to bring
about tho opposition. Watch for an explosion.
The steam is thero and the military party is sit
ting on the safety valve.
Things are' happening in zovcrnment affairs
these days that must cause considerable pinch
ing of themselves by old-timo populists to find
out if they are awake or dreaming. They are
even talking at Washington of government
warehouses now, and that was held, in the early
nineties, to be the climax of absurdity.
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The United States department of agriculture
is very active now in assisting farmers, through
the bureau of markets, to market their prod
ucts. It is tiving special attention to tho market
ing of perishables and their conservation through
canning, drying and similar processes.
The argument, as wo understood it, was that
it is a bad thing to allow liquor to be sold in the
vicinity of the cantonments where the soldier
boys are, but entirely proper for it to bo sold in
the yicinity of the homes where the soldier boys
came from. Why the discrimination?
SAFETY ZONE AT ALL CAMPS';
A Washington dispatch, dated July 12, says:
A "dry" zone five miles wide, unless thero Is a
cltv or town within that limit, is to bo thrown
around all camps for tho mobilization or train
ing of troops under new regulations made pub
lic today at the war department.
If a municipality is within even one mile of
the camp the dry zone is to be limited to that
wuith in that direction. But if tho camp is lo
7id on the edge of a town the prohibition will
SSSd to a width of one-half mile into tho
t0 Prohibition under a penalty of $10,000 fine
rfBd?B imposed under the same law against tho
IWnce of any immoral houses within tho
STflve miles in any case, even where the
camp is on the-edge of a town.
The Kentucky
Contest
Tho voters of Kentucky are engaged in tho im
portant task of Bolocting a loglslaturo which will
act upon tho question of prohibition. Tho com
monwealth will go dry by a hundred thousand
majority if tho people aro given an opportunity
to vote on tho proposition, but Kontucky doos
not have tho Initiative and roforondum, nnd her
constitution gives tho liquor Interests a decldod
advantage in -oqulring a three-fifth vote in both
houses of tho Ieglsl"turo fo- tho submission of a
constLvtlonal amondment. If tho wota can con
T0rLr2NE M0RE TIIAN TWO-FIFTHS OF
P,111 II0USI3 THEY CAN PREVENT SUB
MISSION. That is what they aro now trying to
do, and, knowing that thoy aro In a minority in
tho state, thoy -ro wtrklng unclor cover and
relying on their ability to Jccoivo tho public
Thoy aro putting up candidates who publicly ox
press their willingness to vote for submission,
!rvhc ftro SECRETLY PLEDGED to INSIST
UPON CONDITIONS WHICH WILL MAKE SUB
MISSION IMPOSSIBLL.
One of the conditiors which thoy havo In mint
is compensation" for tho broworlcs and distil
leries that will bo closed :. condition which, bo
cause unjust to tho public, would drivo away
thousands of votes without bringing any to tho
amendment.
DO NOT TRUST THE CAUSE OF PROHIBI
TION TO THOSE WHO ARE AGAINST IT. No
man who favors tho saloon as against tho home
should ho put in a position to betray tho people
into tho hands cf tho liquor interests.
In Texae tho democrats last year voted in
their caucus for submission, and a largo majority
in both branches o tho legislature favored sub
mission, but the wots controlled a Slttlo mora
than ONE-THIRD of the legislature and they
used their power to prevent submission, even
though to do bo thoy defied a democratic c&ucun,
a democratic majority in tho logslaturo and a
majority of the people In Nebraska thoy did
even worse. AFTER THE PEOPLE HAD
ADOPTED A PROHIBITIOr AMENDMENT BY
TWENTY-NINE THOUSAND MAJORITY, tho
democrat stato senate WITH A BREWER AS
PRESIDENT PRO TEM, tried to nullify tho
amendment by tho enactmont of a statute out of
harmony with tho spirit of the amendment
This Is no time to put enemies on guard. Tho
fight for prohibition is a real fight against an
unscrupulous foe to entrust submission to thoso
who favor tl.o saloon, iro in daily confproqco
with the liquor Interests, would bo llko putting
an army under the command of spies.
Tho Democratic Forward league, officered by
mon like Dr. Alexander and P. H. Callahan, has
endorsed candidates who can bo trusted, and the
voters will make no mistako by co-operatins
with them.
Success to the prohibition movement In Ken
tucky strength to tho Democratic Forward
league. W. J. BRYAN.
f
IOWA'S DRY
Tho highball has gone from tho haunts of good
felljws,
The bloom on the julep Is wilted and dead,
The rickey of gin and the highball that mellow,
Away to fresh conquests havo hurriedly flod.
There's a lock on the door of the place whexo
wo lingered ,
And sipped at tho bourbor and guzzled lh
beer;
Where the stories were told and tho glasses wort
fingered, 4
For Iowa's dry since the first of tho yea.
No more can wo plank down the bright gUver
dollar
On top of tho rosewood and point at tho gtojf
Nor kick on tho beer wearing such a high collar,
For tho Wets havo gone out and tho Dryg havo
gono in.
The White Ribbon crowd now sit tight $n tho
saddle
And nation-wide drought they declare If quit
near
And on the red noses they've put the skedaddle
For Iowa's dry since the flrat of tho year.
Contributed
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