(MfcmW11 Vi .JiSSw The Commoner ' VOL. 18, NO. 0 I I't I 1 if If $, The Commoner j.ssm:i) monthly En lured ut tlio l'oHtofllco at Lincoln, Nebraska, a flccon.l-clttHM matter. W1LLTAM J. RRYAN, CHARLES W. BRYAN, Editor and Proprietor AHBoeluto Ed. and Publisher Edit. ntn. and DUHlnenH omce, Suite 207 Pro Dldg. One Yenr 91.00 Three 'HhiiHin -! Nix Month ...v .. ,B0 Single Copy 10 Ii Clubft of FIvo or Rumple CoplcB Free, lore, per year.. .7rt Foreign Post, 2Cc Extra .SUll.NCmrriONS can bo Hont direct to Tlio Com moner. They can also bo wont through nownpapcrs which have adyertlHed a clubbing rate, or through local agentH, where Htich agontH havo been ap pointed. All remltlanceH should bo sent by po&t ofneo money order, cxpreua order, or by bank draft on New York or Chicago. Do not aend Individual eheclcH, stamps, or currency. RENinVALN The dato on your wrapper shows tho time to which your subscription l paid. Thus January 10 means that payment has been received to and Including the issucof January, 1918. ClfANftM OF A IHHtrcsS Subscribers requesting a chango of address must glvo old as well as now address. ADVioutihing Raton will bo 'u.'nlshed upon application. AddreBU all communications to TI1I0 COJUMONUK, LINCOLN, NEIl. If Moxico and Cuba undertake to sottlo their difference with their fleets it will probably bo necessary to call on the-Swiss navy to enforce tho peace. If tho folk loro of Ukraine did not contain tho story Illustrating tho wisdom of him who loapod from tho frying pan into tho fire, its re jection of Russia as a master In favor of Ger many has givon it a direct application that will inauro Its insertion thero in tho future Having failed to sccuro the official scalps of Daniels or Dakor tho magazine Indians are pur suing Goorgo Creel, director of public Informa tion, with tomahawks awhirl. Having thus boon assured of a long official life, Mr. Creel can go about his duties with complete serenity. After ono has studied tho authenticated rec ords of tho atrocitios committed by the German soldiorB and their reckless bombing of Red Cross hospitals and like unbelievablo acts, he gains tho diBtinct Impressions that the kaiser has substituted "forward march" for tho ancient ton commandments. Tl.j current idea that tho real reason why tho Allies so hurriedly agreed upon General Poch as supromo commandor was that they heard that Colonel Roosevelt was coming to Franco has no other basis than that everybody knows thero would havo been a supremo commander if the colonel had gono. Devotees of tho prixo ring are in deep mourn ing over tho fact that nobody will pay good money to como out and see them play at knocking- tho stuffing out of oach other. The real explanation, of course, is that there is only one man in tlio world -tho Amorican peoplo would delight in seeing tho stuffing oxtracted by blows. According to a finding of tho government commission of investigation the profits of the cannors of tho country increased from 9 ner cent in 1916 to 32 per cent in 1917. Like the packers and the grain trust these canner boys don't boliovo in this idea that during tho pe riod of tho war tho slogan should be "business as usual." M It will bo noted that none of tho extremely angry and abusive gentlemen who wanted a firo put under the entire national administration because it had not met expectations and prom ises with reference to the production of air planes wero so incensed that they hired a far tory of their own to turn out a sufficient bu Tho kaiser having failed to scare anybody In Europe by his campaign of frightfulness ha? now sent some of his submarines to the AtlanUc coast in a forlorn hope of frightening the Amer ican people What W. Hohenzollern tfot nSSJ wftef Amc,rICnn IePl would Si largo t number of pouderous volumes. Case Against the Saloon From speech of Win. J. Bryan at Rochester, N. Y., as president of National Dry Federation. No brewer or saloonkeeper ever wrote at, the end of a letter of recommendation for a friend seeking employment "and he drinks." I challenge you to find a billboard between the Atlantic and tho Pacific setting forth the merits of this city or that, that advertises the number of saloons in town. If the saloon is a blessing to a town, as some voula have us think, why don't those billboards state the number of those blessings along with the number of man ufacturing Industries, business houses, schools, churches and libraries? If the saloon is the worthy institution the liquor interests say it is, every town ought to give a bounty for every new saloon opened, instead of making it pay an enormous tax for the privilege of doing- busi ness. Why discriminate against the saloon in that way? Tho town licenses tho saloon to make men drunk and then fines them because they get drunk. Why don't the town put the finished product outside the saloon and let him advertise the business that has produced him, instead of putting him away in a cell for a time and let ting the saloon "refinish" him later? Did you ever stop to think that the saloon is the only business that does not advertise its finished product? Do you think for an instant that the citizens of any community would permit the licensing of men to go around and spread disease germs among hogs? All we are trying to do Is raise manhood to the hog level snd not allow people to disease men in body, mind and soul. I can not frame an indictment halt so savage-as that to which the man behind the liquor business commits himself when he confesses that he has more Interest in hogs than in man, made in the image of God. The man who supports the saloon by his vote hasn't even the low, mean, contemptible excuse of the man who has put money into the liquor business. The saloon is what it is. You can not clean it or purify it. You can only get rid of it by driving it out. I regard the action of our congress in mak ing the District dry, the greatest single thing that has been accomplished in our fight against the saloon. We have captured the Hill and planted our guns upon the political heights. We are now in a position where we can shoot in all directions and have a downhill shot. Men graduate from the beer kindergarten in to the whisky college. If it is wise to close the college, it is foolish to keep the kindergarten running. Tho beer trade and the whisky trado have stood so closely side by side, that it would be cruel to separate them. It would be better to let them die together and bury them both in th same grave. The claim is made by some of the democrats leaders in Nebraska who are attempting to ex cuse the failure and refusal of the governor and ;ndratic state senate to consider ratifica tion of the national prohibitory amendment LnJf?ft i thef ?9'000 majority tor the anS- J?v ?i e St1te conatituto, that the major ity of the people voted out the saloon and not liquor. Some little credence might be placed in the claim it they would name somebody who was known to be for prohibition at the sTate election who Is now contending that the brew ers should be free to sell wherever they can fl d a customer in the state. a 0 IT MUST BE RATIFIED woras ny mrs. wiinam Jennings Bryan. G 0 0 0 0 0 Tune The King's Business. 0 0 The states are free to say They will be dry for aye, For congress passed an act That makes our hopes a fact. With power to right the wrong, With voices clear and strong, Tho Temperance forces sing thjs song. 0 Chorus. This is the message that we bring, Oh, make the very welkin ring: It must be. ratified. It can be ratified,. It shall be ratified this year '" To save our boys from sin,' ' To give them strength to-win -The battles o'er the sea, Where many perils be; To save the homes we love, To guide our thoughts above," The Temperance forces sing this song. ' Chorus. Then work from sea to sea And make the country free; Vote for the men who stand For home and native land. To every candidate In every doubtful state The Temperance forces sing- this song. Chorus. 0 O PSHAW, liESIilE SHAW Leslie Shaw, seeking to get into public no tice, appears in San Francisco and tells how he refused to meet William J. Bryan at Pasadena by dodging him. That is characteristic of Leslie. All his life he has been dodging. And bold warrior that he is Leslie holds Bryan in contempt because, he says, Bryan is a pa cifist. As -it happens, few persons have heard of Shaw since our country entered the war. But the moment our country declared war on Ger many, William Jennings Bryan pnt away ni3 pacifism and was "all American" saying: "I don't know how long- the war will last, but I know that the quickest way out is straight through. Any division or discussion now would simply prolong the war, and make it more costly in lives and money.' For more than a year Bryan has been help ing in war work, in Red Cross work, in work for Liberty Loans by speaking, urging h'3 fellow countrymen to stand fast to help, to contribute. What right has that Iowa ass to bray at Bryan? San Francisco, Cal., Star. When Germany reads over the treaties of the future years between the various co'untries of the globe she will feel more than ever like treating them like scraps of paper. LOYALTY This is no time to quibble or to fool; ' To argue over who was wrong, who right To measur.e fealty with a worn foot rulo; To ask: "Shall we keep stflI"-or shall .vre fight?" The Clock of Fate has struck; the hour Is here; War is upon iis now, not far away; One question only rises, clarion clear: "How may I serve my country, day by day. Not all of us may join the khakled throng Of those who answer and go forth to stem The tide of war. But we can all be strong Anu steady in our loyalty to them I Senator Lenroot traveled all the way from Kot with unfettered thought, or tongue let loose Washington to Nebraska the other week to in- In bitterness and hate a childish game! form a republican Rtnto invaitv .... . . . But wttvi fui, ,, vi.j -u.. ... the renuWi democrats win not permit That honors tnosa who put the rest to shame! the war is that the tomowt&vinttoZS t?? PTO LDreStige ttach?d toSt Matter tt is too bad the senator didn't remain inni it ? ed to have a part in managing it Wn,f want body might just naturally think thS ?lS0?e" cause they wanted to nSi at " was - PW.ouf otSXSuST&S' M"ub,ican There is no middle ground; on whicfi to stand: We've done with useless pro-and-con debates; The one-time friend, so welcome in this land, Has turned upon us at our very gates, inere is no Way, with, honor, "to stand back Real patriotism isn't cool then hot; You can not trim the flag to fit-your lack; You are American or else you're not! Jack Appletoflu ja&gfeW