CTTt? M" W 'y1-'
The (foWmoner,
, VOL. 20, NO. 9
.-
VI
to bo found In both of thcf grout parties, Wo
have Progressive Democrats and Progressive
Republicans and wo have also reactionary Domo
cratB and reactionary Republicans, Broadly
speaking, tho Republican parf.y contains a much
larger por cent of the reactionary clement than
the Democratic party, but even In the Republican
party more than half of the Voters aro progres
sive If they could only find a moans of "express
ing thomsolvoa a voice through whom to
speak. Mr. Roosovjlt came nearer giving arti
culation to tho progressive spirit in tho Repub
lican party than any other leador, although
not all of his following was progressive as was
provon by tho return of many of his friends to
reactionary leadership -when the Colonel's cam
paign failed.
Senator Johnson has come nearer, than any
other associate of Mr. Roosevelt, maintaining
a hold upon tho progressive sentiment of his
party. Ho surprised the Wall street crowd by
the following he developed among tho rank and
Mo of that party. If thero had been a national"
primary so that all Republicans could have- ex
pressed themselves through tho ballot,"he would
have exerted a much larger influence in the
Republican convention. Ho was .hampered by
lackof ne-wsttWtnipport; hehad no'way ot
getting his case before tho voters.
In the Democratic party tho masses are over
whelmingly progressive as is shown Ijy the vic
tories they have won when a line could be .
Btrlctjy drawn botwoon the two elements. Pro
gressiveness had no. chance in the Democratic
party this yoar. The administration presented
no economic issufc upon which a division could
bo made. Those who spoke for tho President
'-mado the endorsement of the treaty- WITHOUT
RESERVATIONS, tho dominant in fact the ,
only test. Nothing could be done or said that
could in any way bo construed as -a reflection
upon tho administration or: as a suggestion of
improvement. A declaration against universal
compulsory military training was brushed aside
by one qf his spokesmen with the remark, that,
' "because Secretary Baker had recommended it, a
declaration against it might be construed &&' a
criticism of the President. We coma not prom
ise to protect tho country from a seven-hundred-milllou-dollar-a-year
menace because a cabinet
, officer had followed the Instructions of the mili
tary advisers instead of taking counsel of tho
people. We could not make any adequate dec
laration against profiteering because it might
seem to promise remedies that the administra
tion had not employed. Nothing could be done
to encourage the Progressive Democrats or to
supply them with weapons to use against tho
reactionary. "Nearly a third of the delegates
at the Domoetttf&i convention seemed to be -LH
terested hfnbliilfig1 but the liquor question.'
vmu ..i.ii.'u.ii. .11.1 i. x i. .
M.u uumiuitiuiiuuu um not wunt uny tiling
bald on tho Prohibition question, doubtless be
cause it might b.er construed as a rebuke to the
President for silence on the subject in general '
and for his lamentable effort to repeal war
Prohibition at a. time when it, would have in
cited a national spree of a few weefcs duration
before constitutional prohibition went into ef
fect. One of tho cabinet officers went so far
s to propose a plank condemning a Republican
congress for passing the Volstead act over the
President's veto, a proposition that, by implica-
tion, stated two falsehoods. First, it condemned
a. Republican for an act in which more than two
thirds of tho Democrats in the Senate and
House joined and it put the President in the
attitude of votoing that part of the Volstead act
which enforced constitutional prohibition,
.whereas, the President's veto' related only to
that part of the Volstead act .which enforced
war prohibition.
But Progressive Democrats should not be
discouraged by a situation which has, for the
time being, silenced their slogans and paralyzed
their power to make promises. They should
enter with all their vigor into tho light for
progressive senators and members of congress.
They should examine the records of candfdates
and their politicaVties and obligations. Where
over they find a dry Democrat Who Is progres
sive they should give him every possible sup
port. If the Democratic candidate is sound on
those two questions he' is entitled to the fullest '
-confidence. A man who Is sound on ono of
these issues' is likely to be sound on the other
and a man who is wrong on one of, these is-
sues is likely to be wrong on the otfier. 'At San
" " Fj-ahcisco the- delegates who wore willing to v
trade the constitution and the Ten Command
mentsnfor a glass of beer wore just as willing
to lot Wall street have its way on any and every .
subject. Aman who will take the side of the,
liquor traffic against tho homes of the land is
not likely to take a firm stand In favor of my
righteous cause or against any other fofmx)f
oppression, ' J - '
Tho Democratic party will not die; It is the
hope of tho Progressive element of tho country.
Its splendid economic record is proof of Incor
ruptibility; its bold and courageous voters will
reassert themselves when the present handicaps,
no longer restrain their efforts. Lot us elect
just as many progressives to Senate and House
as possible a Republican Progressive if the
Democratic candidate is reactionary, just as we
should olect a Republican dry If the Democratic
candidate is wet. With a dry congress wo can
maintain prohibition ' until organized opposi
tion disappears; with a progressive congress
we can hold the reactionaries at bay until an
other forward step can bo takon. Let every
progressive Democrat bo at the polls and use
his ballpt for tho election of senators who trusir
tho people and who will favor measures that will
protect tho rights of tho musses and save them
from exploitation. W. J. BRYAN.
V TO CATHOLIC FRIENDS '
" Pleaseread the following extract .from a news
paper article written at San Francisco during
the recent Democratic National convention and
republished in the July Commoner:
"But the 'Lights are out in the
Capitol' so to speak; ,the advocates of
wine and beer have come up against -,
a stone wall. They counted noses, re
- 'gardles3 of color, anrf they find that
they cannot hope to poll a majority,
probably not a third in favor of apy?
'wet. plank, no matter how ambiguous'
-its, terms might be. Nothing having'
the odor of the vat can jhope to receive ;.
the approval of 'this convention." . . :
Do , you see anything objectionable in it?'
Surely.jiot, and yet a slight change made, by
Someone I 'know riot Who Hjonver ted' the . last
sentence into a very offensive statement which
led a dumber of good friends to inquire aBMto
the real language used. They knew from the
context, as well as from their acquaintance with
mo, that somebody had erred and they kindly
came to my defense. Somebody-unintehtion-ally
I assume put thd letter "i" between the
words "vat" and "can," and then repeated the
word "can," making it read "vatican can" in
stead of-"vat can." I am velw -sorry the' mis
take occurred but greatly appreciate the prompt
nessAltlv which friends discovered and corrected
ajt, J,0"' ti , -V7VJakYAN.
THE NEBRASKA CONSTITUTION
tThe constitutional convention of Nebraska
nrosonted a nnmhor nf vptv tmntttam nmnMi
ments to the constitution, Woman's suffrage
has been conferred upon women; while this
may not be necessary in view of the seeming
Tatiilcatlon of the national amendment, it is well
-to take no chances. The. old discrimination
against the woman voter ought to bo eliminated
for the honor of the state even if it were not
actually needed.
The requirement that five judges shall con
cur in a decision against the constitutionality of
a statute is an excellent one. It Is a reform
that is bound to come, and Nebraska may well
aspire to leadership.' Tho provision which al
lows a five-sixths verdict In civil cases' is also
very important.
The convention has acted wisely also in re
ducing the number of petitioner necessary in
the initiative undvreferendum, and a very im
portant amendment has been submitted which
will greatly aid in settling industrial disputes
and -in dealing with the profiteer. In fact
there are so many good amendments 4hat the
voters should not fail to go to the polls on Sep
tember 21st.
5 V
BBWARl' OF DEET.Arrinw
4, h-5?ilnJiePS are' no fr deflation,' Now.
that ctedits have been enormously expanded, the
financiers desire not the STOPPINGS OF Elc'
PANSION but DEFLATION. By the shrink
ing of the volume of money they can reduce
prices (where tho-rise is due to morO money),
increase the purchasing power ot tho dollar and
transfer a large amount of property 'from the
scheme, 8S t0 Fditr Cl8S- ". n P&,
Keeping Liberty
Bonds at Pair
Tho press dispatches report that Candidato
Harding has declared himself In favor of an
issue of long time bonds at a higher rate of in
terest in order to redeem Liberty Bonds at par.
The purpose is all right; great injustice has
been done those who bought the bonds for pa
triotic reasons and Who .have been allowed to
suffer by the depression of the bond in the mar
ket. Opinions may differ as to what has contri
buted most to the depression und as to the
policy of the Government in permitting these
influences to operate tp the injury of the bond
buyers', but millions who crippled their power
.to invest in Industry by patriotically putting
their money into bonds have suffered a double
loss, viz., the decline in 'the bonds and inability
to take advantage of industrial -opportunities.
But the Harding plan must be so amended as
;not to give an undeserved ITonus to those who
have, speculated in bonds, and it should provide
against the penalizing of the Government,
years to come. If the Liberty Bonds are re
deemed by the issue of bonds drawing a higher
rate, they should be redeemed at the RATE
PAID BY THE HOLDER, not at face value.
This would give par to the original purchasers
but would give speculators only what they paid
for the bonds. .The difference between what
the original investors paid and the selling price
should be paid to the original investor instead
of to the speculator, That is to say, a one
, hundred dollar bond held by an original pur
chaser should be redeemed at one hundred dol
lars, but a bimd bought by a speculator for
ninety tiollars should he redeemed at ninety,
the remaining ten dollars being paid on proof
to the man who -suffered the loss. It might not
be possible for everyvlntermediate' purchaser to
l?e protected tiut it is' possible to identify the
holder at the time of redemption and to ascer
- tain the amount paid by h'Jm, and it is also pos
sible to ascertain the loss" sufferoefby the origi
nal "purchaser, who isthe one niOst deserving,
because he furnished money to the Government
in the hour of noed.
To protect tho Government from a rise in tho
value of high rate bonds a rise that is quite
sure to take plftce within a few years the in
terest should be made subject to change to
meet financial conditions. For instance, tho
bonds might, be made to draw six per cent with
a condition written in the hond permitting tho
Government to raise or lower -the rate of inter
estupon notice, with a view to keeping the "bond
at par the rate tobe increased if the market
rate of interest rises sufficiently to depress the
price of bonds or falls sufficiently to raise the
bonds to a premium. Ajjter-tbe Civil war bonds
drawing a higji rate of interest rose to a very
considerable premium, so that the government
was out a opd deal fof money when it bought
on the market. Tho purchased of a government
bond cannot ask more interest than enough to
keep the bond at par any more gives him an
unearned increment. The -Democrats in tho
feenate and House should see to it that Mr.
Harding's plan does not give all the advantages
to professional bond buyers. W. J. BRYAN.
FLEECING THE FARMER
On another page will be found an editorial
from Senator Capper pointing out the injustice
done the farmers by the speculators. Wool
"seems to have been forced down also about
shearing time. Democratic candidates for Sen
ate and House would do well to discuss this
question and pledge relief to the farmers.
Profiteering must be dealt with by congress.
IS PROHIBITION BRINGING THEM?
When, just after prohibition went into effect,
the tide of migration turned against us tlio
, wets shotted that prohibition was driving labor
from our shores. Now, that the tide has turned
and immigrants are flocking to -the United
States, will the wets admit that prohibition is
drawing them?
NEVADA DOES WELL
The 'Democrats of Nevada have done well in
renominating Senator Henderson and Congress
man Evans, Thejr are both excellent men and
progressive Democrats".' There ought to be no
doubt of thei re-election.
.am;, wim.' ?.&