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WILLIAM J. BRYAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR ' I
VOL 19, NO. 10 ' . ?
Lincoln, Nebraska, October, 1919
Whole Number 726
Attention, Democrats; THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
The campaign approaches: are you ready?
Upon what issues will the .battle be fought? Who
can lead with greatest assurance of success?
Please give The Commoner your opinion on these
questions at once. These ma'tters will be dis
cussed in the next issue; and- the opinion of the
readers will throw light on the situation. The
democratic party must remain" the champion of
the people: it is the hope-of the nations. Will
you help to win, the next national election by
helping to start the party right in the writing
of the platform and in the selection of candi
dates? Talk with : ju'r neighbors 'and then write
to The Commoner. ,
UNCLE SAM NEEDS YOU. '
W. J. BRYAN.
, JOHN BARLEYCORN IS DEAD
By a vote of 231 to 70, the house of represen
tatives aaoptecWCor
to enforce prohibitions Thefsenate haViSfwe-
viously adopted the report without roll' call,' the
bill now goes to the President. The long dra.wn out
fight is over. THE SALOON GOES OUT FOR
EVER. The liquor interests, tftat used to dom
inate the nation and 'the several states were un
able to muster ONE-FOURTH -of . the members
Oil the final roll call. It is a wnnrlnrful. trlitmnli
for the conscience of America; v
"He has sounded out the trUmphet that shall
never call retreat!" :
THE PRESIDENT IMPROVES
After several days of painful suspense, the
Public rejoices tut the President is recovering
iroi his recent breakdown. . No man has ever
, a lleaviGr load of care or borne it for a
'ongertime. The strain was unparalleled. Itis"
a wonder that he stood it fort so. long. His prog
; , toward helth is watched -with keen satis-
v,uon.
W. J. BRYAN.
KENTUCKY v
evfrf , PartieS In Ko'nt"y Have indorsed but
o wheiLSh0Uld Vte and m-ake the maoritr
verwhelming. Take no chances.; .
THE PEOPLE MUST RULI3 , .
been Iw commerci interests have generally ,
Profiteer V"6 State le&islan aimed at the
Pleshnni, anotUer election is near. The peo-"
bo can I bU8y AT 0NCE nominate men
be nwv , IelIed upon- Bven these men should
BPec'ficgred PENLY an UNEQUIVOCALLY to
PerativV!me, S, for Profiteering. The one im
sufflcienu IS MACHINERY mutate and city
ourtg. tl Cmiel inquiry The merchants have
pat-ons h!iefhave..their-remedy -against their
the e'rehan te 'ffiu Y' Jloremedy aaInst
MUST bp nA " $ one-sWed situation; -it
thel" Power ?n?--? have U In"
er toorrecfc:it atthe polls.
W..J, BRYAN. '
Abstract of speech delivered by Mr. Bryan at
Washington, D. C, September 24th,' 1919.
Mr. Chairman:
Before taking up the treaty or the covenant
of the League of Nations, I venture to oxpreia
iy gratification that we are about to abandon
tlie old doctrine of conquest and enter upon a
newVsra in which the taking of territory by force
will not be permitted. Objection has been made
that it will prevent the doing of things .that wo
have commended in the past. All pi ogress is a
repudiation of the past. Our nation like other
nations has taken territory by force of arms, as,
for instance, in the war with Mexico, Now
Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and
part of Colorado were ceded to us as a part of
the settlement, but shall we refuse to turn over
a new leaf because we have in the past employed
the old ways?
SsTateras 1898, in, the' war with, Spain., wo
mutt, jrorto jtuco ana ino ruuippino lHxanas. is
that any reason why we should stand out against
Article 10, which preserves for the future the
integrity of nations large and small? And, speak
ing of the Philippines, it is interesting to note
the change that has taken place in the opinions
of those who favored the holding of the Philip
pines. Senator Lodge, for instance, made a
speech on the 20th of June, 1900, as permanent
chairman of the republican convention then bo
ing held in Philadelphia, in which he defended
the holding of the - llllppines. He seated: "Wo
make no hypocritical pretense of being interested
in the Philippines solely on account of others.
While we regard the welfare of thot3 people as
a sacred i-vct, we' regard the welfare of the
American people fini. We see our duty to our
e.lves as well a3 to othe.s. Y."j believe ia trade
expansion. By every legitimate means within the
province of government and legislation we mean
to sMr-ulato the expansion of our trade and to
open now markets, ''-eatest of all markets is
China. Our trade there is growing by leaps ani
bounds. Manila, the ;rize war, gives us In
estimable advantages in developing that tiado.
. CONTENTS
THE LEAGUE OP NATIONS ' , t
THE PEOPLE MUST RULE
' OHIO, THE BATTLE-GROUND
TIME FOR ACTION
MAKE BONDS SECURE
HAVE THEY CHANGED?
PEACE AT HOME
A SPLENDID SUGGESTION
PRESIDENT TELLS WOMEN LEAGUE
WILL SAVE SONS PROM WARS
THE DUAL PLAN FOR OWNERSHIP AND
OPERATION OF RAILROADS
PRESIDENT ANSWERS QUESTIONS ,
It is the comer l,ono of our oastern poll;?, ard
the brilliant dlplr .:. of John Hay in securing'
from all nations a gu. rantoo of our troaly righto
and of '.!.e open door In China rests upon it. Wo
ask the Americ n pccple if thoy will throw away
thoca nw markets and wlduning opportunities
for trauj and commenco by putting in powar tho
democratic party, wa soek, under cover of a
newly dlscovorod nffection for tho right of man,
to give up these inlands In tho East, and ma.' i
Dowey's victory fruitless."
Senator Lodge spoke rather harshly of tho
doctrine of "the rights of man" at that time.
Ho put our ' mmerclal Interests above tho wol
faro of the Filipinos. Ho did not oven promiso
that the islands would bo turned back, and 10
years later ho voted against cho Jones bill grant
ing autonomous govornmont and promising in- .
dopendonco. Ah tho President noints out. ha rilil
;. fifofr protest 'against taking of Shantung by Hip
vjuhuuud, no uiu nut iixuLUUL io lUKing oi ouior
land from China by other nutions. Ho has cer
tainly travellod a long wayj if ho can Judge by
his criticism of tho Shantung provision In tho
treaty, oven though Japan promised to return
the land to China. My answer to this criticism
is that it Is better for China to trust hor caso
to tho Loague of Nations than to risk tho chaos
that might follow If tho treaty was not ratinod
by the United States, or even If long delay pro
ceded ratification.
Tin first question to be decided in considering
tho League of Nations is whether it is DESIR
ABLE to prevent war. I take it for granted that
f ssw will answer in the negative. Then cc mes tho
question, is it POSSIBLE to prevent war? If
not, then the promises hold out by tho league
are futile; but a large majority of the v.orld to
day ' elieve that it is POSSIBLE to prevent war,
and this is tho real issue presented by the League
of Nations. It is the doctrino of Christ against
the teachings of Nietzsche. Tho latter regarded
war not only necessary but desirable; Christian
ity holds out the hope of universal and perpetual
peace.
If peace is desirable and possible It is fair tp
inquire whether tho covenant of tho League of
Nations is calculated to bring peace. I believe
it is. The Investigation of all questions before
war, with nine months time for deliberation, will
la Itself make war almost impossible. Tho PresI-,
dent describes this provision as "the heart of the
covenant" an! calls attention to the fact that no
senator has yet attacked this provision. It is
taken from the 30 treaties that bind us to three
quarters of the world. The treaties were ratified
by our senate without opposition. No objections
were then made to the surrender, for one year,
of our right to declare war, and no one then
doubted the value of the treaties as a means of
insuring peace.
The reduction of armaments is another long
step toward peace and the abolition of secret
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