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The Commoner
VOL. 20, NO. 2
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that thoro Is a growing sontlmont all over this
country and throughout tho world that punish
ments should tako into consideration tho refor
mation of tho Individual.
I venture to suggest some reforms that I hope
1 you will consider. Tho first is that tho FIRST
OFFENDERS SHOULD BE KEPT SEPARATE
FROM THE OLD OFFENDERS. I helievo that
tho oxperlonco of those who havo had to deal
with criminals will support the proposition that
you cannot afford to put a first offendor hi prison
with old offenders. There is too much likelihood
bt his getting worso because of association with
the old offenders rather than hotter from tho
efforts made by tho prison authorities.
' And thoro is juslico In this distinction. Re
mombor that crime is not always due to delib
erate yiolding to temptation with a clear under
standing of tho wickedness pf tho sin. Environ
ment is somotimos responsible for ready yiolding
' to temptations to crime. Environment Is not
ovorywhero tho same tho difference is sufficient
to justify us in dealing with mercy and consid
eration with firBt offenses.
If wo tako tho porson who has committed a
first o&onso, surround him with a sympthotic
environment, win his confidence and bring him
Into association with those who deslro to help
' him, wo may benefit him and society far more
than wo can in any other way. Wo must not
morel yprotoct society, but wo must, if possible,
savo Immortal souls. There Is a compelling
reason for separating tho first offenders entirely
from those who aro hardened in crime.
Tho socond suggestion is that die minimum
punlshmonts should bo increased as offenses are
repeated. Wo can woll afford to have a small
minimum punishmont for tho first offense in
ardor that tho porson convicted may have tho
benefit of any circumstance that will lesson tho
weight of his guilt; but when a man is convicted
a socond time, showing thereby that ho was not
-reformed but is still hardened, wo are justified
in raising the. minimum punishment. Ho has
overthrown tho presumption that ho can be
trusted. I think wo should increase both maxl
mum and minimum ponaltios as tho offense is
continuously repeated. v
MORAL REFORMATION COMES FIRST
Moral reformation is tho only sure cure, and
morality rests on religion on inner control. You
cannot keep a man in the path of rectitude if
lie has no Inner monitor; you cannot put .enough
pollcomon around him to keep him straight. But,
If you can awaken his conscience, you do not
need policemen. Conscience keeps a hundred
men honest whore tho law keeps one; where a
few aro restrained by fear of prison walls, a mul
titude aro kopt in the straight and narrow path
by the invisible walls that conscience rears about
thorn walls that aro stronger than the walls
of granite or of stono. Therefore, I suggest
that tho state ought to furnish tho spiritual con
solation rind advice that will bo received most
readily. Whenever any considerable number of
prisonors are brought together the state can af
ford to furnish tho spiritual advisers wJio repre
sent tho different faiths with which the prisoners
are connected or to which they are inclined. I
roachod the conclusion, somothlng like twenty
years ago, that the consolations that are given
by the dift'oront branches of the Christian church
differ sufficiently to make it worth while to give
to each individual that form of consolation that
is most comforting to him. Thorefore, I would
suggest that tho two great divisions of the
church, Catholic and Protestant, should bo repre
sented in our penitentiaries by spiritual advisers,
that thoy may roach tho largest possible number
and make tho strongest possible appeal to these
men. If thero aro groups outside, no matter
whether thoy bo largo or small, tho state can
afford to furnish at, its expense, such spiritual
consolation and advice as tho individual or group
may request. I know of nothing that more fully
justifies expo'nsb than the furnishing of these
guides back to tho paths of morality.
SOCIETY'S PRODIGAL SON
Thoro is another noed that we are not supply
ing. The prisoner is society's prodigal son, and
It is to tho Interest of socioty to bring him back
and welcome him so heartily that ho will not
again leave his father's house. To this end,
wo Bhould provide a place where the discharged
prisoner can work VOLUNTARILY until he has
re-established his reputation and restored con
fidence. I am satisfied that tho American people,
everywhere, and in Nebraska not loss than else
.whoro, aro anxious to help the man who wants
to reform..-The only difficulty Is that few are
willing to take tho risk of putting faith in a
man until they are sure his reform is real. If
thero Is some place where he can go without
coercion and stay without restraint until he has
convinced tho public that ho can be trusted
such a man will find it easy to got back into in
dustry. Anyone who thereafter reproaches him
with his former record will receive the criticism
rather thai! tho reformed man.
Tho employment in tho penitentiary of those
under restraint should first be helpful to the in
dividual, second, encouraglpg, and third, not
competitive with honest industry outside. We
must so help prisoners that, while strengthening
them, we shall not injure those who, as pro
ducers of the country havo a right to bo con
sidered. COOPERATIVE GOVERNMENT -Cooperative
government Is a larger subject
and taxation is tho first phase of it that we have
to consider. Taxation not only comes first but
is permanently with us. Other governmental
questions come and go but taxation, like Tenny
son's brook, "goes on and on rorever."
Taxation should be just and impartial. That
.sounds like a commonplace statement, yet, my
friends, you will understand how important I
think it is when I tell you that the stealing done
by law in this country is, in my judgment, great
er than all the stealing done in violation oi'
law, and that the laTgest part of it is done '
through unjust taxation. If you will take from
one man ten dollars when you should only take
five, and then tako from some other man only
five when you should take ton that is, if by
your system of taxation you make one man pay
twice as much as he ought to, and allow tho
other man to escape with half of what he should
pay you simply take five dollars from one man's
pocket and put it into another man's pocket.
When you consider the amount of taxation in
this country and tho difficulty of securing equal
and exact justice in taxation, I think you will
agree with mo that I havo not overstated it
when I tell you that the actual amount stolen
by unjust tax laws In tho United States is great
er than the amount stolen by those who are serv
ing terms in the penitentiary. Several systems
may bo necessary, for no one system is absolute
ly just in the apportionment of the burdens. I
know of no way of approaching justice except to
employ several systems, one bearing unequally
here and another bearing unequally there, the
injustice of one equalizing tho injustice of the
other. I venture to suggest, however, that the
local communities should be allowed large lati
tude in experimenting with the methods used to
raise their quota. Tfiere is no final word in
government; there is no final word in taxat'on,
no one is able to say that we have found the
best system that can bo found. The only test
of a policy is its success in practice. It may look
very well when it is presented as a theory, yet
It may fail entirely when we try It, because we
.may. have overlooked some very important fac
tors. Therefore, in the interest of truth and prog
ress, we should have as large an experience as
possible to choose from. Deal leniently with
those who want to make it possible for a com
munity to try any system It desires, for you may
rest assured if it tries any system and it is not
successful, it wiirturn back. If the local com
munity will furnish its quota of the total tax,
you can safely leave it to decide how that quota
shall bo raised.
Economy in expenditures comes next to
justice In apportionment of taxes. Tho conflict
between the taxpayer and the taxeater is a very
unequal one. The taxpayer is at home and the
taxeater is at tho capital. The man who pays
taxes In small sums, but tho man who enjoys the
benefits of taxation usually received in large
quantities. Tho official who acts as a judge be
tween them has to be on his guard all tho time
to protect tho man who Is not there. As far as
human wisdom can you should endeavor to make
the distribution of the benefits of taxation as
fair and Impartial as possible and economy as
.-rigid as possible.
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP
Cooperation is a growing word in government
it is the doing of things together that cannoi
bo so well dono individually. My observation
is that every new thing is first attacked by
epithet. If one cannot find a good reason for
opposing a thing, he calls it a hard name. I am an
individualist and yet I have often been called a
socialist. Why? Because I believe in the govern
ment doing certain things that it can do better
than individuals cn do thorn. Those who do noi
want the government to do a thing, alwaya
apply the word "socialists to one who advocates
government ownorshin or onnrntiAn n .
stance, suppose a town allows a private corpora." 1
that the city take over the water works th
owners of the franchise will not meet your a?
gument; they will call you a socialist. Yet t
think the record shows that at least sixteen
cities out of seventeen in the United States now
own their own water works. One-hundred years
u,6v unijr muui, uuu out oi sixteen owned its
water works; in a century's time tho progress
has bqen so rapid that now it is the exception
when a city will permit a corporation to furnish
tho city with water. The city of Lincoln has
owned its water system for more than thirty
years. Omaha has operated her water system
for seven years and In that time has reduced
therate to consumers over fifty per cent.
The nation has recently adopted what 'is called
tho Postal Savings Bank. When it was proposed
it was met with tho charge that it was social
istic. The National Bankers Association, meeting
in California in 1908, passed a resolution de
nouncing, the Postal Savings Bank and also tho
guarantee of bank deposits. I followed n ,hc.
cusslon, and recall that a Republican senator, 1
aenaior uarier or Montana, read before the sen
ate literature that was sent out to local bankers
with, instructions to have It printed in the local
newspapers.as editorial matter, the banker Ijeing
cautioned to tear off tho directions before giving
out the printed matter. They attempted to
build up a sentiment against it on the ground
that it was socialistic. Well, we have it, and it
will not go back. In the same manner, when
an effort was made to secure the parcel post, it
too was called socialistic. The federal govern
ment took over the, railroads, the telegraph lines
and the telephone lines temporarily during the
war; this was called socialistic.
I have dwelt upon this to warn you that you
cannot reform an abuse without. hninsr
criticised by the people who profit by the abuse
,tnat you are trying to overthrow.
PRIVATE MONOPOLY
Allow mo to lay before you what I regard as
a- fundamental proposition, namely, that A PRI
VATE MONOPOLY IS INDEFENSIBLE INTOL
ERABLE. Indefensible means that it cannot ho
defended and anything that cannot bo defended J
cannot be tolerated by a free people. God never
made a human being good enough to act as tho
head of a private monopoly. When you under
stand the principle involved, you will find that
I am not announcing a new doctrine. We have
judges; we respect them; but there is not a
civilized country in the world that will allow
a judge to sit in a case where he has a pecuniary
interest. Yet wo select judges becauso of our
confidence in their character and prob'ty. Wo
have good citizens in this country and yet we
do not allow a man to sit upon a jury and be one
of twelve to decide his own case.- Why? Because
wo know that there is an unconscious bias in
everyone in favor of himself. We do not trust
him on a jury even if there aro eleven other men
to overcome his interest. If a judge is not al
lowed to try a case when he has a pecuniary
interest in it, how can one defend a private
monopoly in which an interested man at tho
head of the monopoly daily decides without ap
peal questions where his interest is on one side
and the people's interest on the other side?
That is the principle that underlies a private
monopoly. I believe it is a sound proposition,
a proposition that cannot be overthrown by
argument, that WPIEREVER A MONOPOLY lb
NECESSARY, IT MUST BE A GOVERNMENT
MONOPOLY, ADMINISTERED FOR ALL THE
PEOPLE, AND NOT A PRIVATE MONOPOLY
ADMINISTERED FOR THE BENEFIT OF
A FEW OF TJ-IE PEOPLE. If that
principle is sound, then, my friends, it
is one of the most important matters
you have to deal with in this conven
tion. The constitution should authorize the
state, the counties and the cities, to take oyer
and operate any industry they please, including
stockyards, slaughter houses, grain elevators,
waroviniiRflR ami irmirnnp riip.1i r.oonerative en
terprises to bo self-supporting. No one but tho j
people can decide what is good for tne peoint.
STATE'S INTEREST SUPREME
Probably the largest work you havo w'H to
do is to so write your constitution as to leave
the people free to protect themselves by gov
ernment ownorsnip whenever they feel that tney
can bettor do together that which has hereto
fore been done by individuals. I say STAii
COUNTY AND CITY for I believe tlmt every unit
of government, largo or small, should havo tms
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