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The Commoner
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VOL. 22, NO. S
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The Commonex
ISSUKD MONTHLY
Entored at tho Postofllco at Lincoln. Nobraska,
a second-class matter.
WILLIAM J. BRYAN, CHARLES W. BRYAN,.
Editor and Proprlotor Asfloclato ICd. and Publlfthor
K'llt. Itnid and BubIiiqsb Office, Sulto 207 Press Bldg.
One Ycnr 91.00
Six Montliii .C0
In Clubs of Flvo or
more poi'yoar ... ,7G
Three Months -"
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Foralgn PohL 2Gc Extra
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IllCNISWALS Tho dato on your wrapper shows
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January 21 means that payment has been received
to and Including tho Issuo of January, 1921.
OIIANGI3 OF ADDUESS Subscribers requesting
a chungo of address must glvo old as well as now
addre&s.
Address all communications to
TUB COMMONER, LINCOLN, JVEB.
the ministry and not attempt to debase the re
. liglon which they profess.
And so in the matter of education; Christians
do not dispute tho right of auy teacher to be
agnostic or atheistic; but Christians do deny
tho right of agnostics and atheists to use the
public school as a forum for the teaching of
their doctrines. The Bible has in many places
been excluded from the schools on the ground
that religion should not be taught by those paid
by public taxation. If this doctrine is sound,
what right have tho enemios of religion to teach
IRRELIGION in the public schools? If the
Bible cannot bo taught, why should Christian
taxpayers permit the teaching of guesses that
make the Bible a lie? A teacher might just as
well write over the door4 of his room "Leave
Christianity behind you, all ye who enter here,"
as to ask his studontB to accept an hypothesis
directly and irrecohcilibly antagonistic to the
Bible.
Our opponents are not fair. When we find
fault with tho teaching of DARWIN'S UNSUP
PORTED HYPOTHESIS they talk about Coper
nicus and Gallileo and ask whether we shall
exclude science and return to the dark ages?
Their evasion is a confession of weakness. We
do not ask for tho exclusion of any scientific
truth; but we do protest against an atheist
teacher being allowed to blow his guesses in
the face of the student. The Christians who
want to teach religion in their schools furnish
tho money for denominational institutions. If
atheists want to teach atheism why do thoy not
build their own schools .and employ their own
teachers? If a man really believes that he has
brute blood in him he can teach that to his
children at homo or ho can send them to
atheistic schools where his children will not be
in danger of losing their brute philosophy, but
why should he bo allowed to deal with other
people's children as if they were little monkeys''
We stamp upon our coins "IN GOD WE
TRUST;" we administer to witnesses an oath
in which God's name appears; our President
takes his oath of office upon the Bible. Is it
fanatical to Buggost that public taxes should
not bo employed for the purpose of undermin
ing faith in the nation's God? When we defend
the Mosiac account of man's creation and con
tend that man has no brute blood in him but
was made in God's image by separate act and
placed on earth to carry out a divine decree we
are defending tho God of the Jews as well as the
God of the Gentiles; the God of the Catholics
as well as tho God of the Protestants. We be
lieve that faith in a Supreme Being is essential
to civilization as well as to religion and that
abandonment of God means ruin to the, world
and chaos to society.
Let these believers in "tho tree men" come
down out of the trees and meet the issue Let
them defend the teaching of agnosticism or
atheism if thoy dare. If they deny that tho na
tural tendency of Darwinism is to lead many to
a denial of God, -let them frankly point out tho
portions of the Bible which they regard as con
sistent with, Darwinism, or evolution appliod to
jnan, Thfey weaken faith in God, discourage
prayer, raise doubt as to a future life, reduce
Christ to the- stature of a man and make the
BiH?t , S Cti Paper'" As wllglS i? the
only- basis i df morals, it is time for Christians to
protect religion from its most insiduous enemv
. .. WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
Municipal Coal Yard
Another month has been ad.ded to the activ
ities of the municipal coal yard at Lincoln, No
braska. When tho agitation started for thismu
nicipal coal yard a little more than a year ago,
good' Illinois bituminous fioft lump coal was
boing sold by all the retail coal dealers in Lin
coln at about $14.50 per ton delivered to von
sumer's bin. There wero about twenty retail
coal dealers at the time, and a spread of 25 ,
cents per ton would about cover the prices made ,
on this coal.
Charles W. Bryan at that time was not con
nected with the city in an official capacity but .
cormmenced the agitation as a private citizen for
a municipal coal yard for the purpose or restor
ing competition and protecting the public from
tho unconscionable prices that were being
charged Lincoln people for coal. After showing
conclusively by figures the cost of coal at the
mine, the freight rate, etc., that Lincoln peo
ple, as elsewhere throughout the county, were
being charged about 100 per cent more for coal
delivered in their bins than it was costing coal
dealers f; o. b. the cars in theircity, and being
unable to induce the city commissioners then in
ofllce to establish a municipal coal yard, Mr.
Bryan found it necessary to stand as a candidate
himself at the spring election a year ago in or
der to bring before the voters the diiect issue
of the establishment of a municipal coal yard,
a municipal ice plant and a municipal public
market In order to secure for the people the es
sential necessaries of life at reasonable prices.
Mr. Bryan was elected as city commissioner
by a substantial majority, and although opposed
by tho business organizations of the city, espe
cially the coal, dealers, succeeded, after thor
oughly arousing public opinion, in getting an
ordinance through the city council authorizing
tho establishment of a municipal coal yard and
placing the management and responsibility for
same in the hands of Commissioner Bryan.
The effect of the passage of the ordinance on
the retail coal dealers of this city was very
marked. They, reduced the price of their Illinois
lump coal from $14.50 to $12.50 per ton al
though there was no reduction at the time in
the price of the coal at the mine to justify the
reduction of the retail dealers. At the time the
retail coal dealers reduced the price of the best
southern Illinois coal, known as Franklin County
coal, from $14.50 to $12.50 per ton, hey were
paying more at the mine for this coal than they
wore during the time they were selling it at
$14.50 per ton.
. When the municipal coal yard opened for
business Oct. 1 and commenced selling the
Franklin, Illinois district, screened lump coal
at $10,50 per ton delivered, the retail coal deal
enumade a price of $10.50 per ton on. what they
called Illinois lump coal, and publicly claimed
that it was the same grade of coal the munici
pal yard was selling at $10.50 a ton. However,
the Illinois coal that the retail coal dealers of
Lincoln were selling ,at $10.50 was what is
known as Central Illinois district coal or the
Belleville or St. Louis standard coal. The pub
ic, however, was not deceived, and the sales at
the municipal coal yard of the Franklin County
district coal at $10.50 increased, and the hteh
grade quality of the municipal coal did its own
advertising until today the municipal yard is
probably selling more than one-half of all the
coal sold in Lincoln for domestic purposes
On Jan. 1 the municipal coal yard, flndint
that it was making a larger profit at $10.50 pG?
ton than was necessary, reduced the price of its
coal from $10.B0 to $9.90 per ton delivered? and
the private coal dealers then reduced their chean
grade of Illinois coal to $9.75 per -ton and on?
tinned to claim that it was the-same aaalll
coaMhat the city was selling at thTunfcipal
The official monthly statement made hy Mr
Bryan to the city commission of the activitins
of the municipal coal yard will give the rlad"?
some idea of the volume of business landild by
the municipal coal yard. Although the J
nicipal coal yard handles only one grade of caf
it has been of immense service to the people of
Lincoln, not only in the way of the saving in
price ont the coal bought at the municipal
yard, but on account of the reduction not only In
the price of the soft coal handled by the nrivaS
dealers but private dealers also found it neces
sary to reduce the price of their semt-anthraSlte
coals and anthracite coals as well in order to re
S&ofttK.0t thG Tetail Cal bU8lness &
There has been a saving to the coal consum
ers of Lincoln of upwards of $4.00 a ton'on oa?h
ton of 9oal bought from the municipal coal yard.
amounting to upwards of $30,000, and tb
has been a saving of upwards of $2.00 a ton 4
the. coal consumers of Lincoln on all coal n? i?
kinds purchased from the private coal dciior
during the winter. A conservative estimate S
saving, to Lincoln people during the past seLon
on their coal bills, on account of the establish
ment of the municipal .coal yard would Iip iKn
000. DU'
Commissioner Bryan's report of the municinai
coal yard for the month of February and a sum
mary of the, activities of the yard for the n
months ending March, i, follow:-
March 4, 1922
To the City Counoil: -
The municipal-coal yard will close on or a near
Mar. 31 as possible. ' Although the threatened
coal strike will probably commence April l
the consumption of coal for domestic purposes
for tho spring and summer will be so nearly
over by that time hat it is hardly likely that
the municipal coal yard will be needed' again
until it opens for business about Oct. 1.
The price of coal at the mines is cheaper now
than it has been for" some time. The munici
pal coal yard is offered good Arkansas Anthra
cite lump coal at $5.00 per ton f. o. b. the
mines and at $3.25 per ton Jlor mine run f. o.
b. the mines. The freight rate is about $4,50
per ton. There was a reduction in Franklin Coun
ty district coal of 25 cents a ton at the mines
the latter part of February.
The amount of production of coal has been
considerably in excess of the consumption of
coal for the past year, and the indications are
that there, will be a still further reduction in
the price of coal before next fall. The sales
of the municipal coal yard during the month
of February were larger than for the number
of days during any ,other month since the mu
nicipal coal yard was established last October.
The municipal coal yard has been handling
only one grade of coal, which is the Franklin
County district lump coal, A detailed report of
the activities of the municipal coal .yard since it
was established last October, and also a de
tailed report for the month of February follow:
Total number of orders of coal sold
to customers of the municipal" coal
yard from Oct. 1 to Mar. 1 ;... 5813
Number of tons sold . . . ,- 7408
Number of tons on hand Mar. 1 . . . . 106
Total amount of receipts from sale of
coal t .;, V ....... . $74,638.92
Total amount paid out for cpal .... .$59,317.90
Total cash paid to coal haulers for de
livering coal : f $ 7,029.79
Total amount overhead $ 2,093.01
REPORT FOR MONTH OF FEBRUARY
Number of tons on hand Feb. 1 '. . .' . 147
Tonnage bought in February ...,. 1763
Number of tons sold in February . . 1779
Amount of cash, received for coal' dur
ing month of February . , .... $17,489.40
Cash on hand Fob. 1, including re
volving fund of ?i5,000 $22,498.89
Paid for coal during month . . . . I . .$16,912.84
Paid to coal haulers for delivery of
coal $ 1,834.54
Overhead for month of February ..$ 364.56
Cash on hand Feb. 28, including re
volving fund appropriation $20,976.35
Cash on .hand Feb. 28, exclusive of
revolving fund appropriation $ 5,976.35
Balance in improvement fund $ 202.69
Respectfully submitted,
CHAS. W. BRYAN.
Commissioner & Supt. of Municipal Coal Yard.,
The validity of the woman suffrage amend
ment to the federal constitution, challenged
by Maryland and several other states that re
fused ratification, has been finally and forever
settled. The federal supreme court holds that
whenever a state follows the procedure for rati
fication laid down in the federal constitution
it has done all that is jiecessary, and that be
cause a Btate which refuses ratification has a
provision limiting the suffrage to males only
is no reason why, when the necessary number
of states ratify, the women therein are not en
franchised. It is a distinct triumph for the
principle of majority rule.
The Nebraska farm bureau announces that it
has begun the formation of an agricultural bloc
for the purpose of making- Bure that its legis
lative program will be adopted at the next ses
sion of the state body. When it becomes nec
essary for tho farmers in a state as thoroughly
devoted to and dependent upon agriculture as
Nebraska; it may awaken the interest of a num
ber of voters who think that there is nothing
to the charge that special interests take a very
active hand in. choosing legislators.
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