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have long since disappeared. The ovils of sueh
u requirement wore made manifest in the fight,
over the treaty of Versailles when .-our-nation
Bhamod itself before the world' br its inability
to ratify the treaty.
Another change In the constitution is neces
sary ib permit earlier inauguration of tho presi-.
dent and the convening of, the first rogular see
sion of congress at the same time. Here, too,
tho reasons for delaying an inauguration and
tho convening of congress have long since dis
appeared with the introduction of the railroad
and, the', telegraph linos. The president ought
to bo inaugurated in January and the first ses
sion of congress ought to be convened at tho
same time.. The second session could then be
hold h$or,e tho fall election. ,Tho second, ses
sion should be adjourned at least a month be
fore the following .election so that the voters
could, sit in judgment upon tnq record mauo oy
thej .congress. The second session, now held
after tho election, is often occupied with tho
consideration, of measures' of doubtful merit that
. were postponed out of fear of. the voters. Tho
spoc.ial session called for the consideration of the
ship 1 subsidy is a good illustration, of - the. use
often "made of the second, session. ;
Another amendment is, needed now, one pro
viding for the submission of constitutional
amendments by a majority vote in both bouses
instead of a two-thirds vote as is now required.
If greater doliberation is; desired it can be so-
cured by a provision requiring the passage of .
the resolution by a majority ill two consecutive
congresses, ' It' is better to require the passage
of :such a resolution TWICE by a MAJORITY
than ance. by a tWo-thirds'-vote. In order to
comply with the; provision' of the constitution
made for the jpro,tection of the equal rights of -the
states,. a majority of tho statessas well as a
majority-vote in the nation should be required?
for: ratification. ;. J. ' -'.
The1 growing- seritiriient againsj: War in favor
of universal peace would" justfy. ah' effort to se
cure 'a:- referendum oil war, except In case - of ,
actual invaafori' ' c -' ' ."'
There bughtf'also to be1 legislation that fll '"
enable' the gdvernirient' to 'protect the interests,
of: the' pu'bftc-wlienever disputes arise 'between '.
employers arid employees in an important iri,dus-.J
try and continues long enough to work1 injury: -to-the
public, as" in'the cade of ttie coal' tetriko,.
and the railroad strike" 'liist summoVi The"g6v- 4
ornmont should bd authorized to tako 6v and
operate theLbiisineTss until' tho employers' arid:.;
employees Veacii- an 'Agreement and are dblie to
meet normal demands. When a great comlima- '
tion of Capital obtains su6h control of ahy in-'
dustry, Whether productive' or engaged in trans-
pOrtation, as to make the ;public dependent upon,"
it, touch U corporation assumes an obligation to
satisfy the needs -of the public. When it fails to;J
liye'up'to its obligations, 'the public 'has a right''
to protect itself and1 the mos,t effective protec-;1
tion is government opbratiori until normal con-
dit!bhs aVe restored,
thy this connection, It ouglij to T)e provided ,
that the arhiy; 'can be used only, f o carry put de
cisions'" made "by the" ' government. The govern-
meiit is; in duty bpuud to enforce law arid main:-
tain brdeV and the public will support the" gov
ernment in, any measures that the government
finds necesdary. But the irmy, being an instru
ment of the government, should never be used
except to carry put what the government de- t
creesY Those temporarily In ofUcVare not justi- .
ficd,;in using the army to enforce the private
opinions of either employers or ' employees,
whether. such opinions are expressed by individ-".
ualsJbrby group's of individuals. In other words, '.
tho 'Army is? ndt for private use but for public
useVdnly. :v :V o
q ThWe-ls' remedial legislation needed for the
protection of the farmers, and it is worth while
- to consider, the advisability of a mlnumum price
for agricultural staples and a minumum wage
for labor. The farmer's wages are embodied in
theprice that he receives for his products and
he can only be insured a living wage by legis
lation that assures h!m reasonable prices, A
living price for tlje farmers and a living wage
for wage earners Would, by giving stability to
prices, do justice to those two groups which, tor
geth'or, constitute more than half the popula- .
tionthe half which- produces .that which the
minority "ases. , W. J.BRYAN. "
! I m llUI II "1 ' II II i
As we understand it all that Clemenceau de
sires is that the United States agree to under
write with men and money all future ware that
France-may decide to engage In without the aid
or consent of any other nation. Which is-rather
a largo contract, compared to which the league
of nations is but a note of hand.
The Wet Handicap
There is only one cloud upon the Democratic
horizon as the party looks forward to tho cam
paign of 1924, viz., the possibility of enough
activity among the wet Democrats to cast sus
picion upon the moral integrity of the Demo
cratic party. Among the Democratic gains in
tho east there were a few senators and mem
bers who ran on wet platforms or who were en
dorsed by the wets. While there is no possibil
ity of any weakening of the Eighteenth amend
ment or the enforcement law, there may bo
among the northeastern Democrats enough op,
position to enforcement to handicap the party
in Its fight for remedial legislation on other
subjects.
The American people will not tolerate any re-
turn to liquor domination; in facti one of the
greatest advantages of prohibition is the elimi
nation of the corrupting influence of the liquor
traffic at primaries, convention and elections.
While a large majority of Democrats in both
houses are pledged to the strict enforcement
of prohibition, an active 'minority can bring
odium upon tho party and arouse suspicion
among those who might otherwise be drawn to
the party standard.
It behooves the dry Democrats to bp on their
guard that the partyjs position may be clearly
made known whenever a question is raised in
either, the Senate or .House Prohibition is the
permanent policy of the nation; it cannot be
changed. Any attempt on the part of any party
to Aveaken the law or to embarrass its enforce
ment will meet with swift; and certain condem- .
nation at tlie polls. ' W.J.BRYAN.
a loss pep the "Senate
The defeat of Senator flitchcock is a distinct
loss to the Democratic party in the Seriate. His
twelve years -experience, added to his ability as
a debatGr.had riiadd him a leader Jon the Denio- :
cratic side 'in the discussions of economic ques
tions!; He has "been a tariff reformer from his
yotith; it was-Upon this sifbjedt that he separ
ated from- the Republican ,party when .a' young'
man. . He was also1 of grdaT service' in the fight
which the Democrats' 'made against the reduction"
ofi taxes' on large incomes ' -t( ;
Ho was unfortunate ;in liaving as his opponent
a. pronounced progressive "at a time when the
progressive sentiment was growing rapidly ' in''
the west. If he had beeu'pitted against a' re-'
actioriary, as a number of 'our Democrats were,
he would have won' triumphantly.
" - ' : ' ' w. j:bryan.
ANTI-IiYNGH BUxL DROPPED
ThV Republican leaders; in the Senate have
finally decided to drop the anti-lynching meas-
ure for the present. It, is a wise decision. It
would liave aggravated the situation instead of
affording a remedy, . To turn the attention of
the colored people away from the crime anil
focus it upon the method of punishment will not
cure the trouble. "
The mdaJBure was introduced for political
purposes arid not foy- the advancement of. jus
tice. A filibuster cannot kill a ust measure
but It sometimes wrecks a partisan effort by ex
posing to the country the .real character of the
bill.
- RAlNEY AND AYRES RETURNED
Henry T. Ralney of the Jacksonville, Illinois,
district, and W. A. AyrejT of the Wichita, Kansas,
district have been returned to congress by hand- -sopfe
majorities. They went down in the land
slide, of two years ago but are now back and1
will assume their natural positions of leader
ship. They will be; needed to help shape the
policies of the party folr a Winning campaign in
1924. They are such able champions of the best
type of Democracy that either one of them
would make an admirable candidate for presi
LfcW VERSUS LAWLESSNESS
The congress elected last month, is the FIFTH
successive DRY congress. The' first' dry con
gress made the District of Columbia dry; tho
second submitted national prohibition; the
third passed the Volstead law; "the fourth, the
present congress, passed the anti-beer bill; tho
congress just elected will bo nearly, if not, two
thirds dry in both houses. Th'e dry vote has
been increased in the Senate.
There Is not the slightest chance of the pass
age of any measure weakening the present law.
With thirty-three dry states, represented in the
Senate by sixty-six senators, not to speak of the
dry portions of the states that have not adopted
prohibition, what chance is ther6 of any wet
bill passing the Senate? Even the House which
is elected according to population is not likely
to favor any backward steps. In a few states
in which the wet cities overbalance the agricul
tural districts they may continue to clamor for
a change in the law but their voice will be
droWned in the mighty chorus that proclaims
prohibition as the permament policy of the gov
ernment. c , ,
In Ohio, the fourth state in the Union and a
state containing many large cities, wine and
beer were defeated by 18 7,0 00.. 'In California
the Wright amendment, providing for the en
forcement of the "Volstead law,. 'feceived 29,000
majority. A,
The only thing that the wets hoped, for was a
majority in the House so that" the 'wets could
prevent the appropriations of moQey for enforce
ment. They did not dare to openly proclaim
their purposes or to disclose their intentions.
They wpuldf if they could, inaugurate a reign
of lawlessness in which .the laws would still be
on the statute books but unenforceable tor lack
of appropriations.' But their' schemes failed and
congress for the fifth - time. Voices the con
science of the nation. ' .. i
Will th,e wets accept the defeat and join in
the consideration of other 'questions br must tho
country continue. to; dbyote a part of its 'energy
to sthier defeat of those Vhb" conspire against the
greatest riioral triumph ever wpn' at; the ballot
box? 'WftfBRYAN.
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i-.'H. -" A SGIENpnSX'S : AITH. . ,
"" " ' " JV ' r
Dr' Onarles P. Steittmetz, 'consulting engineer
of the General Electric company; has startled
the atheistic and agnostic scientists; by a bold
declaration in Support pf religious faith. He
declares that there should berrio antagonism be
tween religion and science, nbt because one
should be subordinate to the other but oecause
they move on, different planes "iarid therefore
cannot come into conflict. "Science," he says,
"deals with the conclusions derived by laws of
logic from our sense of p'receptiori, while re
ligion "deals witk the relation l of man 'to su
perior entities, usually conceived as individuals,
that is, a personal God or' personal ,gbds' Ho
says that the answers of science on questions
of religion are not conclusive; that there can
be no scientific foundation f. or religion because
belief must always remain the foundation of re
ligion. Belief, , he adds, re"sts: upon experience
and not upon .logic. ' ' '
That Doctor Steinmetz , has struck the mark
is evident from the fact that "ThetTruth Seek
er,", an atheistic organ, declares that this ad
dress is "little, short of a raasg.pt contradic
tions." The1 testimony of so. distinguished a man
puts to shame the 4ittle, 'two-by-four" scien
tists who attack every religious principle that
does not square, with the latest hypothesis of
some eminent scientific guesser."
,,; AN EASTERN GROJJP
Copeland ,in Ne(w York, Edwards of New
Jersey, Bruce of Maryand, and Bayard of Dela
ware have taken the place of four Republican
senators. Gerry of Rhode Island has been re
elected. They are claimed by the wets as op
ponents of prohibition. This Is to be regretted
but they will be pqwerless to effect a change in
the prohibition law; they will be overwhelmed
by the dry sentiment from the west and south
Orf the questions that are partisan their votes
will count against the administration.
NEW PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER
The election of 1922 brought forward a num
ber of new men, governors, senators, and con
gressmen. It is not improbable that some one
of these will develop ta leadership that will win
for him the presidential nomination in 1924.
There are many Democrats worthy to occupy
the White House the only trouble is that they
are not known. But it would be better to have
a new man who will improve on acquaintance
than a prominent man itfhose chance will de
crease as he becomes better known. We have
some great Issues to meet, issues that bring out
the character and strength of those 'who have
to deal with- them, tl is well for Democrats
to keep their eyes and oars open, and their
minds as well. Let a search for presidential
timber begin aa soon as these new public ser
vants get to work. Fidelity to thopeople and
sympathy with their cause aro the qualities most
needed. W. J. BRYAN.
A '. j.
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