V
V
The Coniindrier
- SI,'.: ,
..." - , . y
ft:;
ZV,WV.Z ., .
'
r
am
""if
r
& '6 -'1"'
The Common
. liSUKO MONTHLY
"",
Why All This Abuse
i
of Bryan?
Bntred at the Postoflleo at Lincoln, Wobraaka,
a 4Msconl-cin.8a matter.
WILLIAM 3t BltYAfc, CHARLES W. BRYAN, -Haitor
and Proprietor A&eoejato TSd, and Publisher
Edit, Rm and Business Offlco, gulte 307 Press Bldgf.
-Ow
ldir. ,.,,. ,aiae
In Clubs t? livo or
more per yea.,, .75
Thrift 3Kk..,.' .28
Mingle Ciy ....... 1
Btttnplo Copies Free.
Foreign Post 2vc Extra.
StT9CRBlTlONS can ho sopt direct xp Tho Com
moner. They can also bo sent through newspapers
which have advertised a cl-nbblnjr rate, or .hrough
local agents, where &uch agrents have been ap
pointed, All remittances should bo sent by post
office money order, expre&g order, or by bank draft
on New York or Chlcngo. JDo not send Individual
checks; stamps, or currency...
m5NWAlS.Tho date on your wrapper ahow.
the time- to which your subscription, is paid Thus
January 20 means that pnynu i has been received
to and including the issuo of January, 1,920.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS Subscribers, 'rcaueatlrig
a change of address must give old a? welt as new
ti0ri4 '
ADVRTISlK(ftRatos will- bo furnished upon
application.
Address all communications to
ThM COJHMONBIt, lOtNCOLN, NEB.
It the mayor ot Chicago is really sincere in his
declaration that ho proposes to clean up that
city we might suggest that ha enlist, the ser
vice of the men who managed the Republican,
campaign. Almot any Democrat will be wilting
to certify ai to tha thoroughneas ot their
methods. .
The farmers are a very nreaaoable lot. They
re declining, even mader great preseure, to aell
their products at ike txed hy the gamblers
'n the hoard of trade im order to give the hanks
tram which they have borrowed- money a chance
to, loan it to the grain men to gamble in the
farmers wheat.
The president-elect lets it he known (that he
Had no promi80B of offices tb anyone during the
campaign, and leaves us to infer that true merit '
will govern all his selections. When he gets
hack to Washington, we suspect, he will find n
lot of promises made in his name that he will
be called upon to redeem.
' , "' m
One of the chief officials in charge- of the en
forcement ot national prohibition in Nebraska
is a Democrat who as a member of the state sen
'ate Va one of a group of senators thai, tried to
hamstring the state prohibition amendment.
Remember this when you read that it is impos
sible to enforce the dry law.
We suspect that the chaps who were kept so'
busy tor a time explaining that because ot the
scarcity of supplies and the overwhelming de
mand the prices ot sugar, leather, automobiles
and other articles that have lately taken a tre
mendous price slump no reduction could be ex
pected tor a year in those commodities have
gone hack to the other Held of fiction -writing
,. Ml, III' ..I I I
A great deal of praise and warm commenda-
tion is being heaped during December "Upon the
Pilgrim Fathers as a part of the celebration
of their landing on Plymouth Rook three hun
dred years ago. The heraism with which they
sealed their faith has proved a priceless heritage
to ithe nation, and it could well ttftord it pay
its respect to their memories by observing more
of their moralities Instead of talking so much
Hh'ont the splendid "characters that resuit from
their complete Observance,
'''" '" 'iinn
t i
For the last ten years the politicians of Ne
braska have been saying that the people were
uick and tired of the direct primary and that the
first chance they got they would throw itintp
the discard, At the last session of the legisla
ture, the politicians screwed up courage enough
to amend the law by providing lor the nomina
tion of all state officers below governor by a
" state convention. A referendum was taken
on that part pi the law at the late election. The
repeal pf the primary law ws defeated by a vote
of nearly four to one.
(From the Montgomery, Alabama, Journal.)
The truth will. out. It can't be'concealed
Why all this sudden hut very general abuse of
Win. J. Bryan and the many falsehoods regard
ing him, is now made clear. The explanation
is foundin three lines ot a letter from one who
is in Washington and right on the scene of the
pending conflict between the contending forces,
"I know the wots and reactionaries are making
.a determined fight to get control of the Demo
cratic party. We are doing what we can con
cerning this, I believe it vill bo checkmated."
Here we have the whole story in a nutshell.
The wets do not know they "are dead as slavery.
Thoyare trying to come again in 1928 and 1924.
Having captured the Republican party, the re-
' action enes are now trying to capture the Demo
cratic party 3ujjt as they captured It in 1304 at
the St, Louis convention when Parker waa
nominated at the dictation of Wall street.
Jn this gigantic effort of these two groups of
- Democrats to capture the party machinery, they
will nave "behind them the same groups in the
Republican party and all the subsidized press ot
the country.
In order to accomplish their purpose they
must first destroy Wm. J, Bryan and are resort
ing to the most despicable methods to this end.
They have sent letters abroad to their subsidized
"prose to deny publicity to any statement Bryaa
may make, He Is not to be heard. The people
mast be kept in the dark of the facta. v Only" the,
aiftionary and wet side is to Ins glvrin to the
.paTwic, To fej the people know the truth would
he. fatal J their canaa. ' They piace their pnr
"poae, however, ainleter and menacing to tha
public, above any consideration of the righta
of the people. It ia with them aa with tha late
Commodore Yanderbilt, who, when t!d the peo
ple Were protesting against the schedule of one
of his Tallroads, answered, "D -m the ieople.'
That TemaTk made the name of Vanderbilt not
famoud but notorious. It expressed the view of
the Vanderbilts ot the past, just as it expresses
the view of the reacttorfary and wet groups of
today.
If they should got control of both, parties, the
eastern Democrats and Republicans alike would
be satisfied. They would be contend. They would'
pour their millions in the campaign funds of the
one or the other candidate's campaign, the one
they deemed most "conservative," a greatly
abused word. Their cry for "safety and sanity"
in the parties is that ot the guilty conscience
crying, "Stop, thief "
Yes, Mr. Bryan is trying to save the ship from ,
the rocks. He is trying to prevent 'its utter
w.reck. The sea rolls heavily, the waves tcc1c the.
boat, and a brave mariner ia Tfeeded- at the helm":
, t Who shall he be? Shalt it he WU Street? Shaft
it be a combination ot the two"? , Or shall it be
that" group of the party in no way i-esjponsible or.
either the platform er the candidate, ot the San
Francisco convention, and the tidal, wave that
swept the Democrats from placeand power? t,
What will the answer ha f. .
The future ot thA Democratic party depends .
upon the answer. J " '
Overwhelmed, burled beneath an avalanche of
, votes in November, 1920, the wet group will ,
carry disaster to any party or faction with
which it Tillies itself in 1922 or 1924. The re
actionaries of the Democratic, party ure so in
significant in number as compared with the re
actionaries of the Republican party, they woUld
have as much chance m success in a national
election as a snow ball in a red hot furnace!
Should not Mr. Bryan have all the moral
forces, all the law-abiding and law-enforcing,
, adherents, regardless of party, class or section,
behind him in this greatest et his many great
fights for the people as against the standpatter
and the open advocate of anarchy.
THE SIN3IiK MORAIi STANDARD
,-' While Mr. Bryan had no idea of urging thV,
single moral standard as a political Issue, "his
suggestion has given several editor a chance to
expose their private views on the subject. The
editor of the Philadelphia Record, for instance,
under the caption ot "Mr. Bryan Too Ambitious,"
says: - '
"WWle Mr. Bryan has lately demonstrated
that he is rather indifferent to moral issues at-
feeling mass relationships, .moral issues affecting
tho individual atill atroaglyapkeal'to him. There
fore he has aligned himself with the proponents
of the 'single standard,' and mountod the plat
form ofjlno segregation of sin, up licensing of'
vice, the penalties of immorality enforced' im
partially against the two sexes.'
"We would not be flippant In dealing with so
serious a matter, nor question the 'justice of
what is known as the 'single standard of moral
ity as touching the relations of men and women.
But we fear that Mr. Bryan is biting off more
than he can Chew. Raising an army of a million
men overnight would ba a "trivial achievement
incoiapariaon with the proposal that tha penal
ties, of immorality 4shallb enforced impartially
against the two aexea. Tha Creator has willed
otherwise, Mr. Bryaa ia deHng with physical
facta. He can change lawa, but he cannot change
tho decrees of Nature.
We venture to suggest that the Nebraska
statesman begin his experiments along tho lines
indicated with the lower animals. In the poultry
yard, for instance. It is part ot the Divine plan
that the hens shall have all the labor of hatch
ing and caring ferr the chicks while the roosters
loaf around and brag about it. -When Mr. Bryan
can secure a more equitable division of labor
between the hens and the roosters it will be
tinie to attempt to make aver the immutable
laws that govern the great mystery in their ap
plicatiom to humankind' - ' '
Illuminating,
World, which
isn't it. And- th StNeW., York
constitutionally' 'views with
alarm" any anggaatioiL mee hf 'lajUbLBryan,
ruahes forward tiaay inaa aitaiat: headed
"Bryaa'a Biggest Joh": - ., '
"When William J. Bryan 'decides upon "the
next great moral issme' other, uplifters 'may as
'well take a back seat. According. to this apos
tle of perfectionism, the One thing necessary to
day is tk establishment of a single, standard of
morality for men and women. Sin in one sex
must carry the same penalties as sin In thetother.
If men escape the consequences ot certain mis
deeds, so mUBt women. , -"
"To write this Teform into the constitution
and statutes efthe United States considerable'
time and energy will "be needed, so much: that
the moral forces now hent uptn restoring the
Puritan' Sabbath can hard!y expect to make
headway while the high prices of righteousness
by act pt congress hold the eenter-of the stage.
The Sahbatarian movement,, therefore, is
neither expedient nor opportune, hecause Brother
, Bryan haaother and of; course, aobef plans.4
"Most men will regard this as a' happy deliverance-
for, while th Sunday issue concerns
them, deeply, the question of moral standards
for. the sexes is one that they are perfectly
willing. to leave to the women. Women are
voters now, and they Can settle It in, their own
way. Prom the "beginning pf fcistory woman's
harshest Judge has beens woman. Men forgive
or at least tolerate, the .erring sister, hut most
women never do, Mr, i Bryan has tackled the
biggest job Of his life'
. Next! ' ' . :""
-4'
OUT AT qCHE XNQtJES'U
- The three great Democratic bosses, Murphy, :
Taggarfc and Brennan, have returned to the scene
ot their (let us say) accident. They are ,out in,.
Xrench Xiick Springs, the historic place "whore
they chose; Cox as their candidate. The" dis-f
patches saythat they are making plans to "cpm
back."--N$w York Herald.
. MRi i5RYAN?S. SHtENCfE '-"
;Mr. Bryan's silence strike ends tomorrow, and
after Tuesday he will feel t reete open his mouth
and raise his voice in the way fcetoyed of Ins ad- .
mirers. ' ' ..
Has Oovprnor Cox heen n3uredt 3robah!y not.
Mr, Bryan, could not have stumped for the'San
Francisco ticket with aiiy sort of success. He is a
sincere, man, and eo accepted by. the country.
Hence, after pronouncing against making the
league of nations the issue of the campaign, and
against making Governor Cox the .candidate, had
he toured, the country asking f or, votes for a plalr
form and a candidate in which aiid he did not be
lieve, he would have .injured iiuself and con
ferred no benefit, on hlg party., , It would ,haye
been on unprotitaule perormance, ' His enemies
Would have sneered and his friends 'sighed.?
Washington Star ,''''
j:.
iXXStiiW
2A.-
.'I
-mtiti
JSm. -i-wt
