The Commoner
VOL. lCNtf 1
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The Commoner
ISSUICI) MONTIIIiY
''l3ntarcil at tho Pontofflco at Lincoln, Nebraska,
rtn BCConU-.clnBH mattor,
WILLIAM J. IlllYAN, CIIAIlLtUS W. BRYAN,
,J,'clltur Hnl Proprietor Annoclnto J3d. and PubllBlicr
JMIt. ItrnB, and HubIiichw Ofllce, Sul'to 207 PreH IJIdt?.
'..I. '
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,. . TUB OOMMONISlf, LINCOLN, NI3H.
It Is probably tbo irony of fato that just at
tho Umo whon tbo roster of European battle
'JAeldB bocomcB available for tho use of tho man
who picks' out names for tho slopping cars, tho
government ordors their production baited for
tho timo being.
"' That at bottom wo afo a charitable and just
pooplo is proved 'by tho fact that nobody lias
fcallod attention to the fact that tho trouble did
not break out; in Russia until after the Hon.
,lEllhu Root had made a few speocbes and bowed
bimsolf out.
' The war "lias made a splendid opening for the
bad-tomperod mon in our midst. They cap act
tho rolo of tbo grouch to their perfoct contont
and pass it off on tho rest )f us1 as, patriotic fer
vor and a desire to make everybody as patriotic
as tboy beliovo thoy aro.
Consldorablo mystery seems to surround tho
now invention which is said to bo capable of
. driving a battleship without fuel. If it can bo
uIbo harnessed up to the domesticated furnace
a gratoful pooplo will be glad to do the hand
Homo thing in tho way of a monument for tho
inventor.
Tho process of weeding out tho incompetent
'among tho officers of tbo various guardsmen
now in the regular army bas been going on
( steadily and clearly shows tho purpose of tbe
gonoral staff is to put nono on guard except
those who can make good with tho maximum of
v tjbiUty. A politician may have pull enough to
got commissions for his relatives, but it takes
capacity to command to hold thom.
i,i
liltYAN'S DISCOVERER
' Another achievement for the renowned
Colonel House is claimed. A Washington cor
respondent says that he it was who brought
t "William Jennings Bryan's name to tho attention
.Of President Wilson and suggested him for a
(Cabinet position.
Wo have often wondered who dragged Mr
.. Bryan from obscurity and brought him to na
tional notlco Outside of serving a couple of
terms in congress, scaring Wall street into per
manently better bohavlor, leading the demo-
oratic party as candidato for president in three
national campaigns, delivering addresses and
lectures in every city, town, village and ham
. Jot in the United States and snatching the dem
ocratic nomination from Champ Clark in 1912
, to bestow it on Mr. Wilron, he had never dono
Anything to attract the public eye.
Somehow wo had an Idea that Mr. Bryan's
name on the democratic national ticket might
havo caught President Wilson's eye two or
throe times, but this evidently is an error Tho
President Is no who shuts his eyes and votes
'er straight. It. was Colonel House who dis
1 'covered the timid, shrinking William Jennings
by tho wayside and acquainted the President
with tho fact that such a man existed. Shrevo
wort, La., Times.
"Dry" America Only
Question of Time
From The Asheville, N. C Times.
A Raleigh, N. C, dispatch of Dec. 20, says:
Ratification of the prohibition amendment
passed by the house of representatives Is not
a matter of chance any longer. Tho only ques
tion now is timo within which the states will
ratify the measure and i..ake national prohibi
tion a fact, is the opinion expressed by former
Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan whHe
in Raleigh.
"I was very much gratified," Mr. Bryan said,
"at tho submission of tho prohibition amend
ment. Tho fact that wo had 27 more than the
necessary two-thirds and more than the friends
of. the meastrre counted on, shows how the tide
Is rising. The movement has now reached a
point where the momentum carries it on with-increasing
speed and many are swept along Kith
tho movement who would oppose 'it if opposition
promised success.
"There wore doubtless a number who voted
for tho amendment who would havo voted
against it if they had seen a chance to
defeat it, but these were offset by as many who
voted against it because of previous pledges and
who were really desirous of seeing tho amend
ment carried."
"What are the chances of its ratification," Mr.
Bryan was asked.
"It is not a matter of chance any longer," re
plied Mr. Bryan; "its ratification is certain. The
only unknown quantity is the time. I think it
will be ratified within three years, although the
resolution gives seven years' time. The states
are likely to enter Into a rivalry as to priority
in ratification. I heard of five states last night
which are likely to try for the first place, and
four of them are states which have not yet
adopted prohibition themselves,,
"This is the third amendment submitted in re
cent years. The first, the Income tax amend
ment, is now being used to collect something like
a billion dolors a year In war taxes and the rate
runs up to 50 per cent on large incomes. No
body Is objecting to this high rate now, although
a two per cent rate was denounced as anarchistic
23 years, ago.
"The second of the recent amendments pro
vides for 'the popular election of senators. It
has made the United States senate as represent
ative a body as tho house and no one would
think of voting for a return to tho old system.
"Tho prohibition amendment is more import
ant than either of the amendments mentioned. It
is economic as well as moral and its adoption
will prove as satisfactory to the country as the
adoption of tho income tax and p'opular election
amendments.
"Twenty-five years from now we will wonder
how the saloon could4 have been tolerated so
long. The world moves never more rapidly
than It has during the past 20 years."
"Do you take any stock in the argument that
the agitation of prohibition will divide the peo
ple in the support of the government in its war
undertakings?" was, next asked Mr. Bryant
"No," he said, "congress did not seem to take
any stock in it. I think It is safe to say that
every man who gave" that as lils reason for vot
ing against the amendment' would have 'voted
n gainst it for other reasons in time of peace.
You will find my answer in my reply to Mr.
Gomners."
"What about the state's rights argument,
then?"
"My observation is that the state's rights ob
jection disappears whenever the state declares
for prohibition. If a state wants prohibition it
doesn't object to having the federal government
help to enforce It. Those who oppose national
prohibition on that ground as a rule oppose
state prohibition on somo other grounds. This
is not a universal rule but it is almost universal.
Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Vir
ginia and Florida are all good state's rights
states but they voted solidly for the amendment.
South Carolina 'and North Carolina were nearly
solid and the amendment had its supporters in
every southern state. In Alabama, where there
was the largest relative opposition, they have
statutory prohibition instead of constitutional
prohibition, and the fact that the state had
voted down constitutional prohibition and had
also elected Mr. Undorwpod to thp senate on an
antl-prohlbltion platform, probably, had; weight
with toso"Alabama members who voted against
the amendment."
"Was there much interest shown In the wino
arid beer amendment?" -was asked Mr. Bryan.
".It received less votes than the resolution that
was finally l.assed and those who voted for it
refused to join In a request for a roll call when
the roll call w : asked for by one of those who
opposed it.
"Let me add ihat Congressman Webb deserves
a largo share of the glory because of his able,
intelligent and persistent effort in behalf of the
amendment. His clpslig speech was a splendid
specimen of clear thinking and condensation in
expression. He covered the whole ground and
did it most effectively."
"What is the next mote, Mr. Bryan?"
"Woman suffrage. It will bring into the arena
of politics an ethical element which will aid ev
ery righteous cause. While the vote for these
two amendments is not quite identical, it is
largely the same. Taking the country over, I
think 75 per cent of those who vote for prohibi
tion will vote for woman suffrage, and probably
a larger per cent of thqse who vote for woman
suffrage will vote for prohibition."
If the small list of congressional friends ot
the liquor interests thought they were throw
ing an anchor to the windward when they tacked
on the amendment providing a seven year lim
itation on its adoption, they have another esti
mate coming. The longest time recorded for
the adoption of an amendment, really desired,
falls slightly under four years. The fact is that
when the movement for a constitutional- amend
ment attains such impetus that it can secure the
necessary vote in both houses of congress 'it is
of sufficient strength to take the remaining
hurdles without any difficulty.
With the world" greatly in need of foodstuffs
and sugar, the brewer is pushing 'his production
and the people whose sensual gratifications he
panders are swallowing his stuff. If this war
'continues very long this brand of .disloyalty will
be stigmatized in as. harsh terms as it now de
SENATOR NEWLANDS
The death of Senator Newlands removes from.
,the political arena one of the nation's- most
notable statesmen. He had a genius for public
life, a passicn for the science of government.
NWith an income sufllcien.io relieve him of the
necessity of laboring for himself, he devoted his
entire time to his country's welfare and found a
sufficient reward in the consciousness of service ,
rendered.
He was at- heart a, democrat; his sympathies
were broad enough to include the race. He was
untiring in industry his research covering ev
ery department of government. And he brought
to his task rare ability and an inexhaustible
courtesy. We shall not soon see his like again.
Mr. Bryan piized his friendship and shares
the sorrow and sense of loss which his demise
has brought to his colaborers and the country.
- g
Francis Griffith Newlands, democrat, of Reno',
jNev.) was born near Natchez, Miss., Augus't 2S,
184 8.; entered the class of 1867 at Yale college
and remained until the middle of his junior
year; later on attended the Columbian College
Law School at Washington, but prior to grad
uation was admitted to the bar by the supreme
court of the District of Columbia and went to
San Francisco, where he entered Upon the prac
tice of law and continued in the active practice
of his profession until 1888, when he became a
citizen of the state of Nevada; was elected to
the Fifty-third, Fifty-fourth, Fifty-fifth, Fifty
sixth, and Fifty-seventh congresses: and served
on the committees on irrigation, foreign affairs,
banking and currency, and ways and means;
was elected to the United- States senate to suc
ceed Hon. John P. Jones, republican, for the
term beginning March 4, 1903. In the general
election of 1908 Mr. Newlands submitted his
candidacy for re-election to a popular vote, un
der the election law of Nevada, and received a
large majority over the votes of all competitors.
The legislature, being pledged in advance by the
party platforms to carry out the popular will,
thereupon, withdut opposition, re-elected .him
United States senator for the term ending
March 3, 1915. He was re-elected to 'the' United
?oiCes Smnatefor tHe term beginning March 4,
1315. The Congressional Directory.
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