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AUGUST, 19zg
The Commoner
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San
Francisco Letters
f Below will bo found the. ecorttt, installment
Liii convention afr San Francisco yhich wore
result in extortion; it will make it unlawful for
f&nfaBca interstate commerce lo make
KShcd to newspapers throlighojjt the f 'country chaso of moZ.Tnon lho pur"
fff BrU Thirst inikllmont appeared eSffi o' LZrlVoV
J,ho July issue.) ..;W , v. - enco between cost price ami 2l. d ?
f.i7J ? V?at Can,b0 legalIy charea 8 th rate
oHnteres is now limited. It will also endeavor
to create in the several states trade commissions
with powers as ample as those of the federal
trade commission and to enact laws authorizing
each local community to create, as needed, simi
lar commissions for the investigation of local
charges of profiteering."
San Francisco, June ' iifishe., profiteering
dank will occupy1 a'promlnont'pldcp in our plat
form for two reasons:; -ffijsjt, -because of the im
portance of the subject itself; second, because
action y thIs convention has boon made more
Imperative by Republican evasion. Profiteering
is a real ovil and demands immediate attention,
frploitation is going on all oyer tlie country and
nand juries are' trying to. reach tho more no
torious of the commercial pirates. One cloth
ing merchant in Omaha was, found selling fbr
$$7.-50 suit bought for $3.3.50; a merchant in
Lincoln was discovered, collecting an average
profit of 85 per cent on shoes, A New York
State clothing corporation was fined $55,000 for
collecting about 10Q per cejni on clothing; the
head of the Woolen. companjt -was arrested .for
prtflteering in cloth; the Gimjbol brothers have
been arrested for overcharging. The tax rec
ords at Washington are disclosing amazing in
stances of profiteering. - One., hundred per cent,
five hundrod per cent, .one thousand per cent,
two thousand per cent and some, even five thou
sand per cent these are profits reported -under
oath. . ' '
Legislation has been strangled1 by lohbyists
employed by tho 'profiteers. ' 'lie -representative
of a wholesale grocery' association in New: York
reported to his employer that at -Xibany he had
killed thirty out of tlilrty-pne bills. proposed for
regulating 'trade, or providing relief tor commun
ities. One of these bills was intended to author
ize cities and towns "to establish, markets. Think
of a grocer's association1 closing1 the door to re
lief! In Nebraska the lobbyists of 'the iriiddlo
tnon strangled a tiin;.Ineded "?or"-lie,Tektrait
of protlleers, These iiftpUdienV retainers of pre
fatory corporations, and greedy commercialists
toro hanging about Washington and snapping
at tho heels of the Trade. Commission; Congress,
Instead of protecting the public,, seemed rather
inclined to resent th,e activities of those who
tried to safeguard the masses.
The Republican Convention., not only failed to
nialce any vigorous .pronouncement against the
profiteer, but, on the contrary.. attempted to"dl
tert attention from the real cause to subsidiary
influences. It is very evident that ,jnost of the
profiteers wore present ajs delegates or were
represented by prpxies.vThe inability of the Ite-
, .publican party to dal-wtth this question effect
ively is illustrated by: a story1. A man went into
a clothing storo, and,, irhen .the merchant wasn't
looking, put on a coat arioranr out. As he went
out. the door the merchant caught sight of him
aud gave chase, stiodtW, "Stop. Thief." Then a
Policemen joined. Ihthe. chs&callhig to the
Wot to stop.. This failing the policeman drew
a revolver and threatened to" shoot. The mer
chant became excited "and, 'grabbing the ppllce
Jjan, said, "Policeman," if you do shoot, shoot
Jim in the pants the coat belongs to me." The
Republican party can't find any place tq Shoot.
The profiteers whV wore not present at Chica
go are here, but they are' not so numerous and
' our party will therefore find it easier to deal
yh the problem I; do not; anticipate . much
wmeuity in securing an explicitsondemnation of
Profiteering and a. pledgeof specific remedies
wt will prove effectfve. I have not been able
w. confer with the other members of the cqm
"fwee, but shall lay 'before thenvas a basis-for
ucon a plank something like the following:
h ah Domcratic party pledges the nation to
U ? tU0 Profiteer ahd to close the door
gainst his return. It will endeavor to eliminate
unnecessary middlemen by the oncourage
jnt of organizations among producers 'that will
S those who seir-and thbsovlio use hearer
In. ler' xt H ehaqt and enforce laws that
; f octiyely prevent' excessive charges by bujU
odlemen aa aro now. Va this end it will
A NATIONAL BULLETIN
San Francisco, June 29. The mills are grind
ing whether they are tho mills of the. Gods or
pot remains to be seen. They are not grinding
slowly and people differ as to whether they are
grinding "exceeding fine" or coarse. The men
in control are men through whom the President
could speak without interruption of the current
if he desired to do so. The subcommittee of tho
Resolutions Committee, whether by accident or
design I know not, is supposed to favor the Vir
ginia idea on the platform with the exception of
one man whose selection for this important conn
mittee could not be avoided. One advantage of
an harmonious subcommittee is that its work
can be done speedily. Difference of opinion is
the fruitful source of discussion and discussion
is anathema where one side is in control. What
ever controversy there is, Is likely to take place
In the full committee whose membership is mado
up' of committeemen selected by the states. If
this rule could be changed so that tho commit
teemen could be selected by some central power
much conflict could be avoided, provided, of
course, the central power was- not compelled to
regard state lines in making its selections. The
perfection of such a plan would load ultimately
to having but ono man on the committee which
would furnish the maximum of harmony and
give that unity of thought which characterizes
the forhi of government away from which tho
world has been moving for some centuries. Tho
Tho Democratic method of inviting discussion
on the ground that discussion brings out the
truth was Justified by Jefferson on the theory -that
troubled waters are more pure than the
waters of the stagnant pool.
After tho report of the full committee, which
is sometimes not unanimous, comes the d scus
sioninthe convention unless those n charge
take the precaution to prevent free discussion
f To'f the 6 Iw sion manifested or to make
ment of the fllsPr"u., comPlacent as tho
my acquiescence , In U "1 aemtmA. My
well managed sit weJ 8to a rauUitude of
obligation 8 not to a tow mn jave
o'lfflltl" have a right
honored no other living caQ rcn(er
to expect from e uctS0seCountry also-since a
to the party and o J Ig servloe to
party's only reason oJ outln?d
country. I haJf.inT offering to tho commit
four Planks i'ndorsing the -18th amend
tc0. First, the Plank o Becond, the -ment
and pledging JfIt ers third, tho plank
plank dealing ot treaty muddle
presenting a option or t ,
fourth, a plank 0f"n;freved for this article
industrial pence I faave J importan
what I regard " ne oi because all
political success depenas i fae peoples
voters, the issues submitted and con
judgment and the wf nfdrmation are in
present all the channels o n diyided
J ivato hd Wlth a i?
classes, those gat are w y represent Pre-
nnrnoso and those iu conducted for
5?ffry interests. Those " e wh0 ar0
fpatriotic purpose Xjl Sometimes
consciously "Jfflnrt th. biaB
the bias is purexJ
Js even moro fundamontal, namely, a claHs bias
wo one intelligent enough to dlroot tho policy
of a newspaper can bo entirely without bia
tho moro blindly ho is biased tho moro suro he
Is that ho is absolutely impartial. Political
truth must thereforo bo flltorod through bias or,
if it comes through papers that represent tho "
predatory interests, diluted, the dilution some
times reducing tho truth Ions than one-half of
one per cent,
Tho Democratic party suffers doubly from this.';
ono sldedness . presentation of political truths- .
The Republicans have a great advantage oyer
tho Democrats in tho faot that tho nopubHcan
papers far outnumber the Democratic papers in
all tho contested states and In tho additional
fact that nearly all tho papers that ara subser
vient to corporate wealth aro on tho Itopublieari
sldo. It Is to meet this difficulty that I havo
for several years been urging a national bul
letin .not a nowspapor, but a bullotin issued
by tho Fedoral Government under bi-partisan
control to bo furnished to all persons connected
with the government, national, state and local
and at a nominal cost to all voters desiring to
subscribe. It would also bo furnished without
cost to all libraries colleges, schools and other
societies through which Information can bo dla-
trlbutcd. It should contain information In re
gard to all issues before tho public whether
those Issues be embodied in legislation unacted -or
legislation proposed. It should havo editorial
space in which representatives of all parties and
all factions of parties represented In congress
Should havo opportunity, proportionate to their
size-to present their arguments on these Issuos.
The paper should be published at intervals, the
duration of which would depend upon tho mat
ter to be presented, tho Intervals being shorter
during campaigns than between campaigns.
Such a bulletin would not only enable tho poo-- .
pie to act Intelligently upon questions submitted
and therefore hasten the triumph of very right
eous cause but it would also enable aspirants for
tho Presidency and other national offices, when ;
legitimately before the public, to lay their .claim
before tho voters and thus romovp tho excuse for
large campaign funds offered by tho "Republican
candidates at Chicago, namely, that it takes an,
enormous amount of money to supply and dis
tribute the literature necessary for the propo? .
enlightenment of voters. The highest offices in
tho land should be opon to deserving aspirant,
regardless of their wealth. In a Democratic
country llko ours a roan's right to aspire to the
Presidency, to tho Senate or to Congress ought
not to depend upon the amount of money ho can
spend himself or upon tho amount that rich
friends aro willing to subscribe. I know of no
reform more imperatively needed than tho re
form that will make sure that tho people shall
secure through unpolluted sources tho inforhia-,
ation needed for intelligent exercise of tho fran?
chlse.
DFrOCnATIC LEADERS IONOItED iX- NAM
ING OP RESOLUTIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ',
San Francisco, Juno 30. The convention Is
approaching its decisive moments. So far theyv
have simply been building the scaffolding. Th'p
construction of tho political edifice is soon to be
gin. Tho first fight would be in the committee
on resolutions when the sub-committee reports"
a tentative platform to tho full committee. In
the solcction of the sub-commltteo Chairman
Glass, in collaborating with Secretary Colby, who
sat by his side, departed from tho unbroken
precedents that control popular government.
It is universally recognized that in all delibera
tive bodies the opposing parties should bo rep-
- resented by their most prominent men, In the
selection of any committee- tho leaders of tho
two sides are chosen as a matter of course. No
Republican presiding officer would think of pick
ing -out Democrats less prominent than tho Re
publicans selected, and a Democrat presiding
officer would follow the same rule as the Re
nubllcan. But we have reached a new era, and
Secretary Glass, with a surprising narrowness
of vision, has seen fit to ignore men who would
havo a right to expect a place on the commit
tee which under ordinary circumstances, writes
a platform acceptable to all or presents the is
sues to the full committee."
In making up his committee of nine Mr. Glass
'Ignored the vice president, who WWjjir
Indiana on the committee. Twice the dlgtin
gnished citizen from. Tndiana, previously a gov-
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