The Commoner
VOL. 17, NO. 11
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The Commoner
ISSUED MONTJII.V
Entered at the Postofllco at Lincoln, Nebraska,
ms second-class mutter.
"WILLIAM .7. BHYAN. CHARLES W. BRYAN,
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THE COMMONER, LINCOLN, NEII.
STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGE
MENT, ETC., REaUIRED BY THE ACT OF
CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24, 1012
ef Tho Commoner, published monthly at Lincoln.
Nobraska for October 1, 1917.
Stato of Nebraska )
)ss,
County of Lancaster )
Beforo me, a notary public In and for tho stato
and county aforesaid, personally appealed Chas. W.
Bryan, who, having been duly sworn according to
law, deposes and says that he is the publisher of
Tho Commoner, and that tho followlngis, to tho
best of his knowlcdgo and belief, a true state
ment of the ownership, management. et6., of tho'
aforesaid publication for tho date shown in tho
abovo caption, required by the Act or August 24,
1912, embodied in section 443, postal laws and reg
ulations, to wit:
1. That tho names and addresses of the publish
er, editor, aB&oclate editor, and business managers
are:
Publisher: Charles W. Bryan. . .Lincoln, Nebraska
Editor: William Jennings Bryan. Lincoln, Nebraska
Associate Editor: Charles W. Bryan. Lincoln, Neb.
Business Managers: None.
2. That the owner Is: William Jennings Bryan',
Lincoln, Nebraska.
3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and
other security holders holding 1 per cent or more
of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other
securities are: None.
CHAS. W. BRYAN, Publisher.
Sworn to and snhorrlbed before mo tills ZStJi
day of September, 1917.
J. R. FARRIS. Notary Public.
(My commission expires July 19, 191S.)
The retreat in Italy and the rovolt In Russia
xnako it more necessary that overy American
citizen should support his government.
The prosont whereabouts of King Constantino
ueems to ho anothor matter about which there
does'not appear to be any great public curiosity.
When your dollars are called to the colors
see that tho response is just as ready as when
other men's sons answer the call for their own
services.
After having had several months' experience
(as the ruler of all the Russias, Kerensky can
,.better understand why Mr. N. Romanoff made
.no objections to having his job taken away from
'him.
The world Is moving. Formerly the chancel
lor of the Gorman ompire held office at the will
of the emperor. Apparently it is now the
reichstag that determines when hia term ex
The Social Evil
On another page will be found extracts from
speeches of Secretaries Daniels and Baker on
tho social evil as it affects the -avy and army.
Secretary Daniels discusses the subject at some
length before a congress of surgeons in session
at Chicago. His speech Is a powerful arraign
ment of this form of sin and an eloquent plea
for tho slngl. standard of morality. It is ui
dressed, too, to members of a profession which
arc in position to render very efficient service in
stamping out tho vice.
Secretary Baker voices the same warning in
a speech at Boston. The press dispatches do
not carry so much of his speech, but it "is alon
the same line.
But why not apply to those who attack the
efficiency of our soldiers in this way the same
rules that are applied to other enemies of the
government? If woman spies can be put to death
in Europe, why may we not imprison, during
the war, women who make merchandise of vir
tue and spread disease for pay.
And the men, what punishment is too severe
for those who, having sworn to support their
government, deliberately incapacitate them
selves for military service, and make their re
turn to civil life a menace to their commun
ities? The country is fortunate in Laving at the head
of the navy and. army at this time two such men
as Daniels and Baker. W. J. BRYAN.
There are times when old and tried phrases
don't do their duty. For instance, who would
gay that it was a sign of peace when enemy
I naval fleets if different size meet and proceed
tu Biun. tuuii umuiouucsi
The fact that among the first American, eol-
j dlers to land in Franco were the marines, sug
gests that it was merely a polite way of having
aomebody handy for the kaiser to tell it to when
h next steps forward to say he desires peace.
TOSTAIj CENSORSHIP
Postmaster General Burleson gave out the fol
lowing authorized statement of the policy of the
department in exercising its power to suppress
periodicals:
"I am going to enforce the law, but I am not
going a step beyond what the law means, and
it does notmean a political censorship. Nothing
could be more repugnant either to the- President
or to me than a nol'tical censorship. Anv news
paper of any political opinion or any shade of
opinion can say anything it chooses in legiti
mate criticism of the President, the administra
tion, the army, the naw or the conduct of the
war. It can go the limit. It can say anvthing
it chooses about me, personally. I don't care
what it savs about me. But there is a limit.
And that limit is reached when it begins to say
that this government got in the war wrong, that
it h in it -for wrong purposes, or anything that
w'll impugn the motives of the government for
going into the war. They can not say that this
government is the tool of Wall street or the
munitions makers. That kind of thing makes
for insubordination in the array and navy and
breeds a spirit of disloyalty through the coun
try. It is a false statement, a lie, and will not
be permitted.
"And nothing can be said inciting people to
resist the laws. There can be no campaign
against conscription and the draft law, nothing
that will interfere with enlistments or the rais
ing of an army. There can be nothing said to
hamper and obstruct the government in-the pros
ecution of the war. Political criticism, on the
other hand, can go to any lengths it will. It
makes no difference what Is a paper's political
faith, what party it belongs to, or how strong or
how weak are its views, it can say what it
pleases in the line of legitimate criticism. We
won't look at any man or any paper with the
thought In our minds that he belongs to the so
cialist or any other political party. The wliole
question is the limit ho attempts to go in his
criticism. He can say anything he wants to
within the limits I have marked out. But he
can't overstep that limit one inch."
Mr. Burleson referred The Public to the fore
going statement as an accurate and adequate
statement of his policy and Intention. The
Public.
NEW YORK RESULT AS ROOSEVELT SEES IT
By Theodore Roosevelt, in Kansas City Star.
The triumph of Tammany in New York city
and the large socialist vote have in some quar
ters been hailed as showing that New York city
is for peace at any price and" that it Is against
the administration. Neither statement is war
ranted by the facts.
The socialist vote was about one-ilfth of tho
total vote. It included most of those who wished
the war stopped at once, this number being made
up of professional pacifists, of red flag anarchists
and of poor, ignorant people, who pathetically
believed that the socialist mayor would somehow
bring peace at once. But it also included its
professional socialists and poor, Ignorant peoplo
who did not think of the war, but who pathetic
ally believed that a socialist mayor would some
how give them 6-cent milk. The voters in New
York city who wish immediate peace without
any regard to national honor or to what future
horrors such a peace would bring, are certainly
less than a fifth of the whole.
The vote was not anti-administration. A far
larger proportion of the supporters of the admin
istration voted for Mr. Hylan . than for Mr.
Mitchel, and officially the administration was
neutral, between the two. A goodly number of
pro-Germans supported Mr. Hylan, but he was
also supported by a large number of entirely
loyal men, and he, himself, unlike the socialist
candidate, Mr. Hillquit, was aVowedly for Amer
ica against Germany and for the prosecution of
the war. The election In actual fact turned di
rectly on local issues. New York occasionally
witnesses an occasional insurrection of virtue,
but the city has never in fifty years given a good
administration a second term. The Insurrection
of virtue at one election is followed by a Tam
many revival at the next.
The result of the election in New York city
was not heartening to patriotic persons, but right
next door, in the Connecticut district, which in
cludes Bridgeport, a contest for a vacant -congressional
seat resulted in a way that speaks well
for the republican candidate, Schuyler Merrit, a
man of high probity and capacity, with a ror
ward look in international affairs, came out in
bold and straightforward fashion, saying he
would support the President in all measures for
the efficient prosecution of the war until victory
"arae; that he would do all he could to prevenf
our agan fall-ng into the condition of shameful
unpreparedness we had for three years occupied,
and that he was for universal obligatory mili
tary training for' our young men. He won by a
majority much greater than that which his pre
decessor received at the time of the presidential
election last year. (Copyright, 1917, by tho
Kansas City Star.)
PRESIDENT'S THANKSGIVING PROCLAMA
TION Mr. Wilson has made several notable contri
butions to the official literature of the country
within the last few months, but none nobler in
its conception and import than his proclamation
designating Thanksgiving day. The simplicity
of the language in which he sets forth the rea
sons for the occasion is impressive. His ordi
nary style is limpid, devoid' of flourish and di
rect, and in this it is employed to its best pur
pose. The high calling of the American people
is made the subject of this timely exhortation.
We are urged not only to give thanks for bless
ings enjoyed and mercies shown, but to humbly
petition for favor and direction along the dark
way before the nation. Our mission to the
world requires that sobriety of expression and
earnestness of action characterize our conduct.
The President in this sets a good example for
the people, and. Thanksgiving day will be ob
served this year with a devout attention it sel
dom has received. Omaha Bee.
The man who fights for a continued oppor
tunity to reap exhorbitant profits from the peo
ple, or who has heaped up a lot of treasure be
cause of our entrance into it, will never be able
to convince a great many persons that when he
urged upon the President that we should de
clare war on Germany he did not have in mind
just what happened, his opportunity for his own
enrichment. What a man does indicates more
clearly than what he says what his scheme is.
MR. BRYAN FIRST LOAN SUBSCRIBER
The United States treasury department au
thorizes the following:
"William J. Bryan, former secretary of state,
sent in the first subscription to the second lib
erty loan of 1917, received at the treasury de
partment. Mr. Bryan subscribed for eight ?5U
liberty loan bonds, one of which he will give 1 to
each of his eight grandchildren. Secretary Mc
Adoo immediately allotted the subscriptions, in
the first liberty loan Mr. Bryan subscribed for
eight $50 bonds for his grandchildren. wiui
the subscriptions Monday each of pa grandchild
ren now owns'$10t worth of Liberty bonds.
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