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The Commoner
VOL. 18, NO. 4
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The Commoner
I.SHUJ2I) MONTHLY
Jtinlcroil at tho PoBtofnco at Lincoln, Nebraska,
'jim Hocon.'1-clnflH matter.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, CHARLES W. BRYAN,
Editor and Proprietor As&oclalo Ed. and Publisher
:J:2dlt. ItmH.'and nunliiCBM OfHce, Suite 207 Press Bide.
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THIS COMMO.VHIt, LINCOLN NEII.
About tho raoHt difllcult thing in the world is
to try to work up a little sympathy to hand over
to tho man who is complaining of the excess
profits tax.
If Shakespeare was right when he said that
the good is oft interred with men's hones, none
bf tho eighteen wet state senators of Nebraska
will over lie in crowded graves.
With the great number of shipping clerks in
tho country it ought not to be a very difficult
task to secure sufficient men to man the mer
,Qha,nt marine we are building.
Tho Germans are quite sure that Kaiser Wil
.holrn will live forever in history. It Is not the
length of his stay in history, however, that is
nost annoying to most of the world.
- With the prices of food and clothing still as
cending, it would be a very good thing for the
nvoragc householder if he could follow the gov
ernment example of passing an urgent deficiency
bill.
y, ,Tho ranks of those who are firmly convinced
that the most efTectivo way to remedy an evil is
Mf,o pass a stringent law does not appear to have
feeelv'ed many recruits from the-ranks of the
food profiteers.
i'i
, Jtussla scorns to havo" followed Count Tolstoy's
.directions as far as having turned both cheeks
hw.uu oimncM, wm is in .1 position 10 wish that
ho had left behind him some more definite di-
t rections as to what to do when that doesn't seem
to work. ?
?
Every now and then snmn rnmihitnnn
(pr congressman rises to his feet to inform the
cquntry that the war is not boing conducted as
ho would run it if he were in control. Observing
folks have doubtless before this noticed that one
will" not need to wait for any official proclama
tion to tho eftcct that there is to be an election
this fall in which a number of republican sen
ators and congressmen are interested.
This Is a good time to load up on Liberty
bonds to tho limit of your financial .resources,
and after you get the bonds keep them. As a
security they are unexcelled, and tho 4 per
cent interest they bear is certain to bring more
good dollars Into your pocket than any of these
highly-advertised, speculative schemes that you
buying P yUr CUntry aml yourSilfty
Chairman Hays of tho republican national
committee is reputed to be backing as thotSXl
for 1920 Theodore Roosevelt for prslden??,?
James P. Goodrich of Indiana to NiSSS ident
Mr. Hays ought to read history to orttor ad
vantage There was once a candidate for pres"
dent who a so ran on tho platform of "tlie war
is a failure." but it is very difficult for the L
,w -..wxuuci uia name.
"LAWLESSNESS AND LOYALTY"
From the Daily Ontario, Belleville, Ontario,
Canada, March 5.
Tho frequent outbreaks of lawlessness in
Toronto are becoming an international menace
and are doing the best work in behalf of Ger
many that is carried out on this side. of the At
1 in Lie
The attack on William Jennings Bryan was
inspired by a twofold cause the outworn hatred
of the United States and hatred of the temper
ance cause that Bryan represented.
The same tendency to mob-rule was mani
fested in Toronto on Saturday afternoon when
the same hoodlum element howled down the
nremier of Ontario at the very steps of the par
liament buildings, and Sir William Hearst and
his colleagues had to make a hasty escape inside
tho buildings to avoid bodily harm at the hands
of the new exponents of democratic rule.
Vr William Hearst had the courage to do
what politicians in this country have seldom
done before, that is to give a straightforward
answer to a large deputation when the answer
was known to be directly at variance with the
des'res of the petitioners. What Sir William
has lost in the estimation of the mob he will
make up a hundred fold in the estimation of
tli substantial thinking people of the province.
It is strange that not one of the daily papers
of Toronto has had the bravery to come out In
f.'rr..Mt condemnation of the ruffianism and
anarchy that rule their city whenever the de
sire is present to do so. The respectable, law
abiding element is surely in a majority in To
ronto citizenship, but respectability seems help
i pn-i terrorized before the impudent gang
sters who brazenly flaunt themselves before the
,,,. .,5, cupr-loyal'sts.
TMi samp Toronto mob-leadership has had
more to do than any other influence in stirring up
and maintaining the present bitter feeling be-a"-pcvi
OpIt'o and Quebec. The theory of the
ronfo min.hief-rnakers is that the best way to
help the Allies win the war in Europe is to start
a ' " r own in Canada.
Not satisfied with their pro-German work in
p.. -.win b"v now want to break down the newly
created harmony between Canada and the United
St"4s. '
How seriously the disgraceful outbreak at
the Massoy hall meeting is taken in the United
Rates is shown by the following entirely truth
ful and scathing editorial from The New York
World. The World is one of the ablest, most
'widely circulated and influential journals in the
United States. It is said to be very close to the
President and has often been a foremost ex
ponent of American opinion.
The editorial is headed "Lawlessness and
Loyalty," and is as follows
"Lawlessness in the name of super-loyalty
as witnessed in the prohibition convention in
Toronto, where Mr. Bryan was howled down,
whether witnessed in Canada or the United
States, is just as mischievous as some of the
lawlessness inspired in these countries by super-Germanism.
"Mr. Bryan was denied a hearing by a crowd
of hoodlum ex-soldiers evidently well rehearsed
for tho. part, not because he is a prohibitionist,
but on the plea, notoriously false, that he is or
has been pro-German. A performance so out
rageous would have been impossible even in
Toronto if newspapers and politicians had not
for some days before his arrival discussed var
ious ways by which public displeasure with him
could be expressed.
"That some agencies of government itself was
in sympathy with the riot which they knew waf?
to come off is shown by the fact that all tho
higher provincial officials and every conspicuous
member of the legislature failed to attend tbo
SedlsntfnctionUgl1 the!r gUGSt WaS an American
','Vle man thus contemptuously received in a
neighboring country has been three times the
?RS?i ff a gra,t party for Psident of the
United States, receiving almost as many votes
as there are inhabitants of Canada. More than
any other one person, perhaps, he was respon
sible for Woodrow Wilson's first notilnation
For two years and three months he was sec
rotary of state and as such signed the tost l
sitania note, in which were laid down wlS
fiml1?? I? VT in any other document of That
time the principles on which we are now making
J haen1ruffia.nism in the name of loyalism sub
jects such a character, to indignity it entS S?
t'6 uphold. The same spirit haa been exhibited
,in this country by mobs maltreating men
women suspected of German sympathies, it ha,
manifested itself also in Untruthful speeches
and writings sensationally belittling our nil,
itary efforts and slandering our leaders, all ii
the name of a super-patriotism, and yet nearly
all giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
"In spite of the fierce passions awakened h
war, it ought to be possible for civilized peo,
pies fighting for high ideals to face the issue
as they face, the foe, without hooliganism and
without misrepresenting each other. If when
nations take arms they cait not -forget past dif.
ferehces, leaving to the law, all who offend
against public interests, they are poorly armed
indeed, no matter how fervently they pretend
to embrace the flag or with what weapons they
are supplied.
"Mr. Bryan's pacifism in time of peace was
the pacifism of a great majority of his country,
men. The militancy of the American people to
day has no more powerful supporter in private
life than Mr. Bryan. It is hecause we were pa
cifists that now we are warriors. Canada, no
less than Germany, may as well grasp that truth
and hold to it."
DUAL OWNERSHIP
Franklin, Kentucky, Feb. 22, 1918. Dear
Mr. Bryan: Supplementing the arguments ad
vanced in the Issue of The Commoner for Jan
uary, 1918, favoring the dual ownership of rail
ways (by which is meant federal ownership and
construction of trunk lines, and state or private m
ownership of purely intrastate or local railways)
as against exclusive federal ownership, I sub
mit these remarks.
Government ownership and construction of
railways, as heretofore comprehended, has been
criticised on the grounds that it will offer con
gressmen an opportunity to advocate the build
ing of local lines of railway in their respective
districts to obtain political advantages; and that
railway construction would be secured just as
federal buildings in small towns have been se
cured, resulting in the useless expenditure of
large sums.
Under the dual plan only trunk lines would
be owned and constructed out of federal funds,
and local lines would be supported by state ap
proprlations, or else built and operated by pri
vate capital. Thus dual ownership and construc
tion, will eliminate the objectionable practice in
the construction of railways that has obtained
in the construction of federal buildings.
To this statement I might add that the advo
cates of government ownership, need not be
come discouraged whatever the results may be
under the present limited operation and control
of the carriers by the federal government.
Under the present plan railroad operation
may be described as half public and half private.
Lincoln declared that this nation could not bo
"half slave and half free," and In the struggle
for the freedom of the highways it may be
necessary to paraphrase Lincoln's statement and
declare "that the highways of the nation can
not be half private and half public."
It is pretty generally conceded by all students
of political economy and transportation prob
lems that competitive conditions in transporta
tion result in an economic waste; and, there
fore, economy demands the. elimination of com
petitive conditions in transportation, resulting
in a necessary monopoly. Therefore, based upon
fundamental, economic principles the govern
ment of necessity must own and operate its
transportation companies. All agree that '
private monopoly is indefensible-and intoler
able and must be destroyed"; therefore, a
necessary monopoly'' must be owned and con
trolled oy the people. .: :'
Yours very truly,
LAURENCE B'. FINN,
Chairman, Kentucky Railroad Commissi011'
It is universally .conceded1 that without food
conservation in this country it will be impossible
to adequately feed our soldiers abroad and those
who are fighting with them the battles of dem
ocrat Fifty mini0n DU8nei8 of parley, I5.
million bushels of corn and 2 million bushels oi
rice are yearly used in this country in the man
ufacture of beer. Yet brewers and beer drinK
lllS 8t ,upon thIs waste' continuing while er
S7 ? Z else lB willinS to sacrifice to the limit;
patriotism can never rise to its necessary heigW
m this country until all the. foodstuffs saved go
to feed our soldiers and our allier
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