tfTyP; r X , K' The Commoner - A TOL; 22, NO. 11 J ''- t j -i -y t N t r n lhe Commoner ISSUED MONTHIiY Progress Versus .-- Cons ervatism Entered af the Postofllco at Lincoln, Nobraska, aa Bccond-clasa matter. WILLTAM J. BRYAN,, CHARLES W. BRYAN, Editor and Proprietor Associate Hid. and Publisher Edit. Rmo and Business Offlcc, Suite 207 Pross Bids. One Year., $1.09 Six Month .GO In Clubs of FIvo or morc per year ... .75 Three Ttlouihn i5 Single Copy 10 Sample copies Free. Foreign Post. 25c Extra SUBSCRIPTIONS Can bo sent direct to The Com moner. They cyin also bo sent through nowspapcra which havo advertised a clubbing rate, or through local fig-en tc. whcreV. such agents havo been ap pointed. A11 remittances should be sent by post ofllco money order express order, or by bank draft on New York or Chicago. Do not send individual checks, stamps, or currency. HKIVEWAIiS The date on your wrapper ohowfl the time,, to which your subscription in paid. Thus, January 2Z means that payment has boon roceived to and Include tho i6subv of January, 1922. .. CHANGIC OF ADDItlflSS Subscribers requesting a changfe .of-address must .give old as well as now address. s ' ' ADVERTISING Rates wlir bo furnished upon application. k. - Address all communications to i . THK fiOMMONEIl, LIN,COI,N; NED. T , , i , . STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP. MANAGE MENT, ETC., REQrUIllED BY THE ACT OF . CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24, 1012 of The Commoner; published monthly at Lincoln, Nebraska, .for October 1, 1922. K. , Statb of Nebraska )H ,- '- County of Lancaster ) Bcforo me, a notary public in and for the state aHd county aforesaid,, personalis' appeared Chas..SV. Bryan, who, having been duly sworn according to law, i deposes and says that he Is the publisher of Tho Commoner, and that the following Is, to the best of his knowledge and belief, a true statement of thooWnershlp, management, etc,, of the aforesaid publication for tho dato slfown in the abovo -caption, required by tho Act of August 2Jf 1912. ombodiedin sectibn 443, postal -laws and regulations, to'wlt: 1. That the names and. addresses of the pub lisher, editor, associate editor, arid business man agers -are r " Publisher: Chart cs JV. SBryan . . . .Lincoln, Nebraska Editor: "William Jennings Bryan .Lincoln, Nebraska Associate, Editor: Charles W. Bryan. .Lincoln, Nebr. Business Managers: None. tl 2. That tho owner Is: W ill lam Jennings Bryan, Lincoln, Nebraska. - 3. That the knjjwn bondholders, mortgagees ana other security holders holding 1 per cent or more. of the total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: None. . .CHAS. W. BRYAN, Publisher. Sworn to and subscribed, before mo-thls 20th. "dayi of September , 1922. " s ' J. R. FARRIS, Notary' Public " (My comriiisslori expires July 19, 1924.) . - kIt'will be rattier difficult to convine'anumber of esteemed Republicans tnatvijo far as this elec tion is concerned there is enough glory to go Tound. ' The gpiijion exists in some quarters that if Somer arrangement could be' made with respect to clothes with the football players and the , bathing beauties there might be a much better equalization of attire accomplished. The railway labor board says that it does not belieye there is anything such a thing as a liv ing wage; and has declined to fix One for em ployes of the transportation company. In view of the fact that a living wage is very plainly"V wage large enough for the person who receives it really live upon, tho question does not appear so difficult to answer. - -w As President Harding looks over the political 'news covering ovents that happened' on tho 7th of November ho will be able to 'understand how the sultan of Turkey, who has just lost h!s job -because the people didn't like the way he ran Yhtngs, feels just now, oven though the presi dent is still on familiar terms with tho man who pay3 salaries in this country. Not tho least enjoyable of the chuckles that a Democrat gets from reading the olectlon re turns is in noticing that the election of Smith W. Brookhart as senator in Iowa is listed as a Republicaji victory Anybody who knows how the Republican leaders of that state feel about BrOokhart's election can readily get the point. Mr. Brookhart was elected because the corpora tloii and reactionary Republicans of that sta said' that he was too close to the people Jta was a good year for candidates' who had proved thitcffly wero closo t0 tho people " P (By W. J. BRYAN) Many of the visitors to Japan carry homo with them a pair of Korean 120ns. It seerris almost farcical to' call them lions because they havo nothing of trie fierceness of the menagerie lions--being1 comical rather than fear inspiring. They are to be found at the doors of temples--ond on brie side, and one on tho other. One of the lions has its mouth open wh'ilo tho other has its mouth firmly closed; they ' are" said to represent the eternal conflict between the posi tivo and tho negative between the progressive and the conservative. Both of these groups are necessary; if it were not for tho conservative the progressive would go too fasT if it were not for the progressive the conservative would not go at all. 4 This is the. fundamental conflict that is being fought out everywhere. In traveling around the world i inquired, upon entering a now country, what political issue was paramount tljere, and found that everywhere the most vital issue was between those who wanted to go forward, and those who contended for existing methods and conditions. No two countries stand upon rthe same level in the matter of progress; that which is progressive in One country, is-conservative in another, the line being drawn between that desired and that secured. The line does riot always separate the same, people; the progressive in .one generation may be the conservative in the next. Having won the fight 'he beg'an In his youh, her may leaVe others to lead the next fighU- 1 7 - The conservative has several advantages over the progressive. In the firsj; place, one is c'on- . stitutionally inclined to prefer that with which he ia acquainted' to that whicbris new;, fgnor ance, therefore, is 6n the-side of conservatism. One must; . understand a proposition (at leaslt he must thirik ho understands it) before lie will -.endorse it. The progressives iriust rely for 'their numbers and strength upon those suf ficiently well informed to prefer a proposed re form to existing laws. The conservatives, .on the contrary, include, not only those who have" studied the subject and decided aga'nst ttra re form, but also those who have nojt studied the uninformed.,. Our governmental machinery gives the conservatives a very decided advantage over the progressives. "We havo in the nation, -"and in tjach of the- states, an Executive"1 and a Legislature; these must unite in tho enactment' of a law. ' ' " , The progressive is handicapped still further by tho fact that, each legislature has ' two branches, which must concur in tho passage of -a law before it goes' to. the Executive," for. his signature. In other words, a measure in the line of progress must pass BOTH Houses and receive the approval of the President, while tho conservative can block the measure by control ing either House or the Executive. In 'the na fnal government, and in most of the states, the veto of the Executive cahnqt' -be overridden ex cepting by a two-thirds majority of both Houses In the matter of Constitutional amendments,' the handicap of the progressive is made heavier by the fact that two-thirds of both Houses must submit the amendment? and then three-fourths of the states must ratify it. Ratification re quires the concurrence of two Houses seventy two in thirty-six states, while ratification can be ; defeated by thirteen Ho;uses in thirteen states There are strong arguments in favjar of suf ficient enforced delay to compel deliberation Changes should not be made under tho spur of excitement, but there1 is no reason why any ob stacle should be put in the .way of the triumph .? w111 of the PePle when there has been sufficient time and opportunity for mature con sideration of the proposed change. It is worth while to note also that all reforms disturb so-called "vested rights," although it would sometimes be more accurate "to describe them as "vested wrongs." Reforms begin with those who SUPPER and are always oppose? by those who profit by the abuses to bo reformed Those who make money out of an abuse not only have tho sinews of war with which to fteht reform, but they fight with desperation and re gardless of expense. They are able to organize those who are directly menaced, or fear a future attack The contest is usually between the un organized victims of Injustice and those on the other side who are protected in the doing of in justice by some outgrown law or some anti quated method of government. I hav taken tho trouble to call attention to the" governmental handicaps placed upon those who seek to inaugurate changes in order that the' reader ..may "understand why reforms grow so slowly. . ," The progressive sentiment in this country is overwhelming but it takes v time for it to find expression. Ttte progressive sentiment not only oontrols the nation, but it in, time controls all parties. It is so difficult to amend, our Federal Constitution that-constitutional changes are im possible without joint action by the great par ties. Within the last twelve years, four consti tutional amendments have been adopted. .Neither the Democratic party nor ;he Republi can party was strong enough to secure a consti tutional change wittfout tho aid of the opposite party; and it is a fact worthy of notice that - separate action 3s not usually, necessary when an independent reform is ripe, for triumph. The discussion necessary to secure two-thirds of both Houses, and three-fourths of the states unites the progressives' regar'dless of party. Take, for instance, the four constitutional re forms tsecured in the last twelve years. It re quired twenty-one years of agitation to secure the direct election of United States senators; thb first resolution proposing the amendment passed1 the National Hotfse of Representatives in 1892, while the ratification was not completed until 1913. It passed the House six times before it. could pass theHSenate once. When it did finally pass, the House was Democratic and the Senato Republican..' It was quickly ratified Republican and Democratic states vieing with 5ach pytier in "Supporting it. It required saventeen years of agitation to se cure the income- - tax; when jt was finally se cured, it was by the cooperation of the Demo crats and the Republicans the two parties - sharing in the glory of the victory. Arid" -so' with prohibition; " While a Demo-& cratic congress submitted . the proh bition amendment, a Republican congress passed tho Volstead law whfch put- the amendment into ef fect. More than two-thirds of both the Demo crats and Republicans in the Senate and the House supported the 18th amendment, and all the legislation enforcing the amendment. A majority of the Democrats and Republicans in both Houses voted for $fhe submission of the Suffrage amendment, and-the two parties joined in furnishing the Ihirty-six .'stalky -necessary for ratifcation. ' While it is true thatVconstitutional reforms required, cooperation between the two leading - parties, it is only fair to the Democrats to say .that they have IjED in thfe securing of every important ec(momic reform of this generation. That does not mean that all "Democrats are pro gressive or that all' Republicans are conserva-tive-rbut a larger percentage 'of the Demo crats are progressive a larger percentage of the Rep-ubllcans are conservative. This is a fact that can be easjly proven. Take tho two constitutional amendments, for instance, which draw the line between -progressives and conservatives. The -direct election of senators made that body more responsive to the will of the people. Agitation began among the farmers and among the laborers. The opposi tion was strongest where wealth was most con centrated and most influential. The first House that passed the resolution submitting the amendment, was the Democratic' House elected in 1S90. he resolution was also passed by tho congress elected in 1892, which was also Demo cratic. Then two Republican congresses ad journed without passing the resolution. After that, three Republican congresses passed the resolution and then it was passed by a Demo cratic congress at the time that the Senate con curred. It will be seen, therefore, that while three of the Houses were Democratic, and three Republican, THE DEMOCRATS"" TOOK THE INITIATIVE. Pour Democratic National plat forms endorsed tho direct election of tho sena tors by tho people. In this connection it is sig nificant to note that no Republican platform ever endorsed this amendment? in 1904, the convention t that nominated Mr. Roosevelt re jected, by avote of 7 to 1, and a resolution in troduced, by Senator LaPollette, endorsing the direct election of senators. ' Justice to the Republican masses requires that J. should state -there was probably never a time between tho proposal of this amendniont and its adoption whon a -majority of Republican votorfl T"" tiujt --4 l&fij .sfex