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The Commone
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'Subsidy, Bonus, Labor, and the
, International Situation
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(By W. J. BRYAN.) ' : - 1
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Tho. proposed shin subsidy threatened a di-
vision in- the Republican party almost as wide
as' Hie unprecedented division over the Revenue
bill and the split over the Tariff bill,' but the
. controversy became so heated that the cons d
Joration of it was postponed until after the olec
it$P, Tho "Job Session" is going to bo quite ,
,Nt)usyKwith, deferred issues. Some day the Ameri
can people will wake up to the menace of a sos-
sion held AFTER the, election. Whenever a
quostion-arises which threatens to distui'b party
harmony or to arouse an emphatic protest, from
'ho people, itis chforcftormed during the cam
paign and loft over as unfinished business to bo
1 attended to when retiring members can vote
'wrong' without danger to their political futures.
Each now Congress ought to1 convene soon after
rtho election, not later than January, and the
second, session should, by law, adjourn before
the following -election. This would not prevent
the calling of an extra session in case of an
emergency, but it would prevent the passage of
undesirable laws by discarded legislators.
But, pardon the disgression the Subsidy
Bill has all the demerits of a protective tariff
without the excuses that are jdepondetj. upon to
justify liigh .tariff rates. The infant industries
which have been nursing at the national, breast
for generations cry out aga!nst any attempt to
separate thorn from the nourishment given them
. in the form of a protective tariff. The friends
of ship subsidy cannot claim that their infant
was brought into existence by favoritism in the
form of law, their are asking for the creation
of a new" industrial Hability-7-the establishment
of a new dependent that- would have no hope
'of lever reaching Independence.
1 '.-The people have become accustomed to the
pleading. voice of the Industries that claim to be
dependent upon high tariff rates, industries
whoso owners go to summer reports whtfe the
victims of the tariff are sweating in the sun
but so many Republicans have been dis'llusioned
in regard to the blessings ", of protection, that
they refuse tp invite now demands upon the
treasury. In the case 'of the ship subsidy, the
private interests have, been so open and above
board In their efforts to kill off government
competition that oven the most blind -can see" the
'danger ahead. If the government desires to es
tablish trades routeB wVch private capital will
not 'establish without subsidy, the remedy is for
the government t64 own and operate its own'
' ships. If it most operate them at a loss, the loss
'yfotild be no greater than the subsidy. The peo
ple can better afford to run shins at a loss and
run them as the government' wants them run
s ' than to pay private corporations to run them-nt
a'1 loss; The government can stop its own ships
henever it decides it wise to do so; it cannot
so easily stop private ships after they have se
cured' a "vested interest" in the government's
bounty. T
w The. soldiers' bonus seems likely to influence
,.as .many votes as any other single' issue not
, ,that aJl.the voters, favor the bonus, hut because
.thoe who are offended by the President's veto
- ,aje more apt to express their criticism by their
. .votes, than- aro those who approve. The opposi
- jtion. to the solders' bonus has bqen led by big
business-and' "big business" is Republican any
how. The soldjerp, on the other hand, are- not
(wodded to any, party, and the injustice which
had been done, them by the. President's voto is
apt to drive many of them away from Republi
can candidates. I
Al If the Republican administration had been
, -pconomical in other directions, it might have
made a successful appeal to the soldiers to be
patient, but the soldiers are the o)ly tfties for
..whqjn there seems to be no money. The Re
publican leaders were very prompt in respond
The Republican leaders have dealt generous
ly also with the railroads, but the soldier has to
wait. " - '
As to tho justice of the bonus, there would
seem to be little doubt. The soldiers were called
from home and, under tho selective draft, were
compelled to give 'up any work however lucra
tive and any opportunities however promising
in , order to serve tho government at a very
nominal salary. Most of the four millions of
men. called to the colors sent their money home
for the support of persons dependent upon them.
During tho war prices rose to such an extent
that the money sent hdme 'by the soldiers lost a
considerable portion of its purchasing, power.
Tlren,tqp, those who stayed at home received
ah increase in wages and many of them made
fortunes. More millionaires were created in the
United States during the period of the war
from the breaking out of hostilities in Europe
to the signing of tho armistice than were made
in all the previous history of our country. In
stead of compelling tho.se who made money out
of the war to pay the boys who took "risks while
these fabulous fortunes were being made, ;wo
find that tho polit'cal influence of the newly"
rich is greater than tho influence of the boys
who took the risks and made the sacrifices. -A
great many of tho young men reared iri Republi- ,
-can families will learn, from their experience
w'th the-Bonus bill how thoroughly committed
the Republican leaders are to property rights as
distinguished from human rights. In 1859
Abraham Lincoln, in declining an Invitation: to
a Jeffersonian banquet in Boston, said that the
Republican party believed in the man and th'e
dollar, but that, in. case conflict occurred be
tween the two, it believed in the MAN BEFORE
THE DOLLAR, The soldiers who furnished the
man power in the war will not be slow to riot'ee
the change that has come in Republican leader
ship since the days of Lincoln. Today the Re
publican leaders believe in both the dollar and'
the man, but in case of conflict, they believe in
the DOLLAR BEFORE THE MAN:
" The same alignment is found on the labor
question. Republican leaders are on the s'de of
' capital as against labor, and. are responsible for
the serious situation in the inustr,ial world to
day. t Never before since our nation was born
has, the industrial situation been less satisfac
tory than today. More than ever before the in
dividual members of the two groups known as
the "Capitalistic Group" and the "Labor Group"
are class conscious that is, they are thinking
in terms of class "rather than the terms of the
whole country. The individual -members of these
classes look forward witlia vague dread to what
they regard as an inevitable conflict.
T-he struggle between labor "and capital has
been brought down to a brute basis, "w'th the
spirit of brotherhood exercising lessnd less
influence. The .church has a duty to perform in
reconciling these two groups. The church be
lieves in God and it believeB that the same God'
who made the employer made ther employee. The
'church believes in Christ and it believes that
the same Christ who died for the employer died
for tho employee; the church believes in the
coming of an universal brotherhood and it be
lieves that Jhat brotherhood, w'hen it comes,
must include both thoso who pay wages and
those who work for wages. It is ;tho duty of the
church to bring tho rich and the poor into
sympathetic fellowsh'p. There is only one Heav-
on; if the rich and the poqr must live there to
gether after death, they ought to become ac
quainted in this world.
The Republican leaders stand for policies
that, tend to divide society into classes to sep
arate the people intq the privileged classes and
the unorganized masses. The Republ'can lead
ers are in sympathy with tho force of the bio
corporations to break up the labor onranirn.
tlons, and it is this sympathy with big employers
? ' " ' " - X"!'" in iuqjuiiii- ") v vutw p;iuijuiuj v.
,jjig u me aeraanas,or tne pronteers who asked tuat has prolonged the strike. Heads of ran
iuuub uiiu omor uig corporations meet in secret
jmd reach conclusions wh'ch are to be supported
vy uuicou action, ana men tney expect the gov-
that the excess profit tax be reneatarl. Whn fnm.
hundred fifty millions a year (tho est'mated re
lief given to the profiteers) would have gone a
jconsidorable distance towards" satisfying the
.needs of the soldiers. The Republican-leaders
trjed to relieve, to the extent of ninety millions
of taxes, a year, the persons who pay on bit- in
comes. That would have helped some towards
pay'ng the soldiers.
eminent to furnish tho army to carry out these
private conclusions. It Js the expectation that
they will be backed by governmental force that
make these heads of corporations ignore the
wishes of employees and the interests of the
people. Tho mine owners and the railway heads
are united in an effort to reduce the individual
employee tohelplessness. , '
It is not necessary to defend all that organ
ized labor does in order to "believe-in the ne
cessity for organization. Laboring men aje hu
man and. are as likely to error as other humans
But thoso who" belong to organized labor aro no
m6re likely to make mistakes than those who
belong to organized capital; they; are under
more restraint than the capitalists because their
needs compel them to accept the best terms that
they can get. They cannott stand a suspension
of business as long as the ' capitalists can. if
individual laborer were dealing with individ
ual employers, the personal relationship be
tween them would be a protection against injus
tice, but when one employer controls the labor
of hundreds of thousands of men and acta'
through so many subordinates that he does not
.come into personal contact with the employee,
the relationship canntot be as human as it used
to be. Organization among capitalists has multi
plied their power; but Tor organization among
the laboring men the wage earner would be ab
solutely at the mercy of the employer and would
in time be reduced to a position of involuntary
servitude.
In this country, the laboring man is a citizen
and shares in the shaping of the destiny of the
nation. All interested in progress and- popular
government must, therefore, be interested in
everything that materially affects the wage
earner's .standard of living, and the conditions
that surround him. The great mass of the peo
ple are directly interested on either side bf an
Industrial contest; they nov suffer without any
voice in the settlement of the disputes that bring
Buffering upon them. Take for instance, the
coal strike. Not more than 5 -perv cent of our
population was pecuniarily interested on either
sitie. In other words, 95 per cent suffered with
out any fault of their own, while the employers
and the employees fought out their differences.
Coal has risen-in price. Why has not some plan
been devised for the settlement or disputes be
fore resort to strike or lockout? We have treat
ies with thirty nat'ons embodying tho principle
.. of INVESTIGATION BEFORE WAR. If tho
hand of war can be stayed between nations until
the matter in dispute can be' investigated, why
is ifr not possible to stay the strike and the lock
out until the public can be informed as to tho
merits of the dispute and bf!ng public opinion
to bear upon the controversy? -
In the present campaign the farmers and the
laborers have, a very real grievance against the
Republican leaders for failure to protect the
masses. The government's right to protect the
public in any and every emergency must be ad
mitted. Otherwise, the government fails of Us
purpose. No individual whether he be a natural
man or a corporate man can defy the govern
ment or 'oppress the people without restraint
Whenever the employers and the employees can
not agree and the public, welfare is at stake, tho
government ought to be authorized to take over
the roads and run them until the normal con
ditions aro restored. So, in the matter of coal
mines. Those who control the, necessities of '
life must so control them astb meet the public
requirements.
The international situation is so changeable
that no one can tell what a day may bring forth,
but there are certain general principles that can
be understood and acted upon.' First responsi
bility comes with power and opportunity. Our
nation has the confidence of. the world in its
disinterestedness as ho other nation has and it
has" a moral prestige wliich no other natior has
ever approached. t)ur advice is needed for the
settlement of international disputes we are
the only nation 'that can speak peace to the
world. This advice ought to be given whenever
asked, hut given with a reservation of independ
( enceon.our own part. We cannot afford to al
low any other nation to dee'de the question of
war for us. Congress alone has the power to
declare war and that poer cannot be surrend
ered into the' keeping of any other nation or
group of nations; but, reserving the right to de
"cideovhen, for what and under what circum
stances we shall use ohr army and navy, our
wisdom and influenc&Mmght to be exdrted when
ever desired -for the adjustment of disputes that
might lead to war.
Our President has nought to take us into war
either to a!d other nations or' to aid individuals
or groups. Europe has interests, entirely differ
ent from burs commercial interests that are
protected by armies and navies. Wo may use our
moral influence to keep the 'Suez Canal open and
to make tho Bosporus neutral, but we cannot
assist any other nation in enforcing this policy.
And so with the protection of those, who suffer
from the barbarity of Turkey. Wc can use our
ui.W. "ifrv :
