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The Commoner
VOL. 19, No ls
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and tholr patriotism to doubt that tlioy can
roach a compromlso which will fully meet tho
situation and glvo an Immediate ratification of
tho treaty by an overwhelming majority and
thus enable us to turn our attention to tho
pressing demands of domestic issues. Tho party
which, by Insisting upon unreasonable de
mands, makes the treaty a vital issuo In next
year's campaign will invito tho wrath of the
voters. W. J. BRYAN.
DEPLORES SENATE'S ACTION
(From Tho Hot Springs, Ark., Sontinol-Rocord.)
Deploring tho action of tho United States
ponato in refusing to ratify tho peace treaty,
Cot William Jennings Bryan Issued a statement
that contained a potent warning to that au
gust body and reflected, as it were, tho senti
xnont of the nation, when he called attention
to tho prosont spirit of unrest, the fact that
"tho plutocrat and tho profiteer aro abroad in
tho land," and' that tho American people wore
In no mood for delays that added to tho pres
ent discontent. Colonel Bryan is deeply in
terested In tho Poace Treaty. Ho is a staunch
supporter of tho League of Nations.
STATEMENT OF MR. BRYAN ON SENATE'S
ACTION ON THE PEACE TREATY
.(From tho Hot Springs, Ark., New Er'a,
Nov. 20.)
"Deplorable," was tho term used by Wil
liam Jennings Bryan in describing the senate's
action in failing to ratify the peace treaty, when
the Great Commoner was interviewed hero
today relative to that subject. Col. Bryan
added however that It- was in his belief that
the senate would agree on Bomo compromise -when
tho regular session of congress convenes
In the near future. He said that President
Wilson had been forced to fight a single
handed battle in Paris against nations seek
ing advantages and that a perfect treaty
could not be expected as tho outcome
Col. Bryan called attention to the fact that
more than three-fourths of the senate were
in favor of the treaty and the League of Na
il0118 ?. timt lfc was merey on details that
,Z dIffored As no decision can bo reached
without a two-thirds majority, the differing
factions must come together by a compromise.
Col. Bryan said that if this was not done there
muBt be an Indefinite delay which tho people
carmot stand for.
Such domestic affairs as the differences be
tween labor and capital and tho encroach
ments of tho profiteer must be attended to or
else those evils will gain a strangle hold upon
the people while congress is wrangling with
the peace treaty.
Col. Bryan's statement was as follows:
"The adjournment of the senate without
ratifying tho treaty is greatly to be deplored,
but congress meets in regular session in a
few days and a compromise ought to bo agreed
upon at once. The president did the best ho
could at Paris, but he had to fight, -single
handed, against nations which wore seeking to
obtain advantages from the war. a perfect
treaty could not be expected under such cir
cumstances. Tho senate is a co-ordinate body
under our constitution and has tho last word
in treaty making. More than three-fourths of
the members of the senate more than two
thirds of each party in the senatefavor the
treaty and the League of Nations, but'they dif
fer in regard to. proposed reservations, As
neither side has a sufflclont number of senators
to act independently of the other, there must
be a compromise or indefinite delay, if settle
ment Is postponed until after tho next elec
tion, the treaty cannot bo ratified for at least
jlxteen months, and then neither party would
be likely to control two-thirds of tho wnate.
"No party can afford to assume responsibility
for what may happen in the meantime The
Sid VS? "?"?? aro abroad In tue 'and
and it is to their Interest to make tho treatv
wm!h?eJSi ?e next campaIgn' fo' Kh
will bo able toNecure a strangle hold upon
the American people, while public attention is
being given to foreign questions. But tho
masses are In no condition to bear greater bnr
.dens or to wait for reliof. The antaloniL ?I
tween capital and labor Inef5t
grows while extortioners plunder all claJEEIf
society. It is time for the friondd of tt?Le?wI
of Nations to get together on a compwSS
so that our country may devote Itself to mE
ing domestic problems." vreis-
THE ROLL OP HONOR
States That Have Ratified tho National
Woman Suffrage Amendment
1WISCONSIN, June 10, 1919.
2 -ILLINOIS, Juno 10, 1919.
3 MICHIGAN, Juno 10, 1919.
4 -KANSAS, JUno 1G, 1919. ;
6 NEW YORK, June 16, 1919.
7 PENNSYLVANIA, Juno 24, 1919.
8 MASSACHUSETTS, June 25, 1919..; '
9 TEXAS, June 28, 1919.
10 IOWA, July 2, 1919.
11 MISSOURI, July 3, 1919.
12 ARKANSAS, July 28, 1919.
13 MONTANA, July 30, 1919.
14 NEBRASKA, August 2, 1919.
15 MINNESOTA, Sept. 8, 1919.
16 NEW HAMPSHIRE, Sept. 10, 1919.
17 UTAH, Sept. 30, 1919.
18 CALIFORNIA, Nov. 1, 19l'9.
19 MAINE, Nov. 5, 1919.
20 NORTH DAKOTA, Dec. 1. 1919. -21
SOUTH DAKOTA, Dec. 3. 1919.
22 COLORADO, Dec. 12,1919.
DEMAND ACTION ON PEACE TREATY
Settlement of differences over the p'eaco treaty
to permit its ratification as soon -as possible
after the senate reconvenes was urged in a
statoment issued at New York, November 23
by the League to Enforce Peace, at the conclu
sion of a special meeting of the executive com
mittee. Former President William H. Taft, president
of tho league, presided. Among others present
were Oscar S. Straus and Herbert Hoover. The
league's statement follows:
"The defeat of ratification has been received
by the. country with surprise and Indignation.
The people want peace. They want peace and
they want a league of nations to -guard the
poace. Whose name it bears, which party brand
it wears, they care not at all. They expected
ratification before adjournment of the senate.
"Tho making of peace is no more a party
question than was the making of war. The
American people, without regard to.party, stood
behind the war until the day of victory. . With
like unanimity they now stand behind the treaty.
"Shall the small minority who oppose a league
of nations in any form defeat ratification? Shall
fifteen senators decide where America shall
stand in this world crisis? Eighty senators
have shown that they favor the principle of the
league of nations. The fate of the treaty rests
in their hands. They have the votes. They
have the power. Theirs is the responsibility.
They must got together.
"The failure to ratify the peace treaty has
encouraged social unrest both at home and
abroad.
"Men and women of America, this is your
problem. Your interests, your welfare, the
honor and the future of your country are in
volved. Your will is the supreme commanc
"The league of nations gives the' promise of
a world co-operating for the purposes of peaco
and protecting itself by concerted action against
war and the threat of war. The ideal is Amer
ican. The men and women who gladly dedicated
u 80nB and their Sllb8tance to the cause of
obtaining peace through tho defeat of the Ger
man menace refuse "to believe that they have
made an empty sacrifice.
, ",T1 dmand that the senators harmonize
their differences. Refusal to do so will defy nnd
betray the people of this country by whom
they were elected and to whom they must an
CONGREGATIONALISTS AWAKE
0llili,0vheLIiage wIU be foun1 th resolutions
adopted by tho congregationalists recently at
their national meeting. They are awake to the
seriousness of the conflict between capital and
labor and they are right In seeking reconcili
ation Instead of urging a "fight to the finish."
THE OLD EXCUSE.
The reason given for .a failure to provide ma
chinery for the prevention of strikes-is tie rid
SKWASSf ana tuat "
An Unfortunate Rec
ommendation In -his recont message tho Presidonf ,
an unfortunate recommendation? inLSes
of tho income tax rate ho says: taking
"The congress might well ! i
whether the higher rates of Jn
and profits taxes can in peace timllT
effectively productive of rovVnuT and
whether they may not, on tho contrary
be destructive of business activity and'
productive of waste, and in0fflcicncy
..There la a point at which in pS
times h gh rates of income and profits
taxes discourage energy, remove the
the incentive to new enterprise, en
courage extravagant expenditures and
produce industrial stagnation with
consequent unemployment and other
., attendant evils."
This is just what the republican leaders ara
sure to do. They will scale down the ate3 "J
largo incomes first, leaving the people wUh
?S n&T"8 t0 strue6le along under their
load. The tax as it now is does not relatively
overburden those with large incomes; they can
pay the high rates more easily than tho people
with smaller incomes can pay the lower rates
The threat of the very rich to leave the coun
try or to stop making money is not new. They
said tho samo thing- twenty-five years ago when
the law provided for a flat rate of only two per
cent.
9 The President has been misled by the soph
istry always employed by Jhose who try to shift
the burden of taxation from the rich to tho
poor, The members and senators will find it dif
ficult to defend before their constituents the
Income, tax policy outlined by the President.
And his position is even more indefensible on
the subject of excess profits. If there is any
tax that should not be lowered it is tho excess
profits tax. From present indications it may
be the only means we shall have of reaching
the profiteer. It is very unfortunate that tho
President should have made the recommenda
tion that he did. W. J. BRYAN.
THE ESCH BELL
Labor's protest against the Esch bill will ba
found on another page. It is worth reading.
The railway employes have found out what tho
farmers have long known; namely, that the rail
way magnates demand CLASS GOVERMENT
a government controlled by the railroads in tho
interest, not of the stockholders, but of tho
capitalists, who grow rich by manipulating tho
railroads for their own pecuniary benefit. Tho
capitalists expect the republican party to hold
the public'cow while the magnates do tho milk
ing. How long will the people stand it?
THE NEWSPAPER MONOPOLY
-The Globe-Democrat, in defending its action
in absorbing Its only rival in the morning news
paper field, says:
. j Among cities of over 100,000 popu
lation in the United States forty-five
havo .one morning ' paper and only
nineteen have more than one. Of the
nineteen cities, three, of course, are
. 'very much larger than St. Louis, and
. of the other sixteen only four others
are above half a million population.
. . The greater cities that have but one
-morning newspaper are St. Louis,
.. Cleveland, Detroit, Denver, Mlnnea-r-
polis, New Orleans, Indianapolis, St.
Paul, Portland, Ore.; Seattle, MII
- : 'Waukee, . Atlanta, Newark, Columbus,
,... Toledo, Providence, Des Moines, Mem
phis, Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, San
, Antonio, Syracuse and Spokane.
How many of these papers that have a monop
oly of tho morning field are reliable exponents
of democracy as defined in the democratic piri
form and as illustrated by democratic reforms.
Count them, and you will wonder how in
democratic party survives. Thero is only om
way to get the people's cause before the inass't
jicuutuy, oy means or a iNuuuuui - ,
a, NEWSPAPER, but a .Bulletin giving tne
sues and arguments on. both sides. The pn
- .. it.. XTTT'TKQ hill 1"
rnrrn i -m t - n - inn t 11 1 v ij 11 ui -
uncu milium, uuu iutuiou-uu , ..--,
formation- on public issues; should come
W. J. BRYAN.
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