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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1923)
The Commoner ISSUED MONTHLY — Entered at the Postoflice at Lincoln. Nebraska, as second-class matter. , ■» WILLIAM J. BRYAN, CHARLES W. BRYAN, Editor and Proprietor Associate Ed. and Publisher Edit. Rms and Business Office, Suite 207 Press Bldg., Oae Year .|1.M Three Moaths ---s Six Month* . .50 Single Copr In Clubs of Five or ' Sample copies Free, more per year .. .75 Foreign Po$t 25c Extra SUBSCRIPTIONS can be sent direct to The Com moner. They can also be sent through newspapers which have advertised a clubbing rate, or through local agents, where such agents have been ap pointed. All remittances should be sent by#post offlee money order, express order, or by bank draft on New York or Chicago. Do not send individual checks, stamps, or currency. RENEWALS—The date on your wrapper sti°ws the time to which your subscription is paid. Thus, January 24 means that payment has been received to and including the issue of January, 1924. Address all communications to— THE COMMONER. LINCOLN. NEB. •' " - ! • POISONING YOUNG MINDS The following has been going the rounds of the press: “A model two-foot shelf of books for the American country school child has been selected by the American Library Association and the National Educational Association, designed to do for the boy or girl what Charles W. Eliot’s five-Tooit shelf seeks to do for the mature mind. First place among the books in the new shelf goes to Lou:sa M. Alcott's ‘Little "Women;’ with Lewis Caroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ second; Defoe’s ‘Robinson Crusoe,’ third; Mark Twain’s ‘Tom Sawyer,’ fourth; and R. L. Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island,’ fifth. The’o-ther bookSj in the order named, are: Nicolay’s ‘Boy’s Life of Abra ham Lincoln,’ Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book,’ Ander sen’s ‘Fairy-Tales,’ .®sop’s ‘Fables,’ Stevenson’s ‘Garden of Verses,’ Pyle’s ‘Merry Adventures of Robin Hood,’ Lamb’s ‘Tales from Shakespeare,’ Malory’s ‘Boy’s K ng Arthur,’ Van Loon’s ‘Story of Mankind,’ Wiggin’s ‘Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,’ Burton E. Stevenson’s ‘Home Book of Verse for Young Folks,’ Dicken’s ‘Christmas Carol,’ Irving’s ‘Rip Van Winkle,’ ‘Mother Goose,’ Dodge’s ‘Hans Brinker,’ Hagedoru’s ‘Boy’s Life of Theodore Roosevelt,’ Hawthorne’s ‘Wonder Book,’ Seton’s ‘Wild Animals I have Known’ and ‘Arabian Nights.’ ” It seems interesting enough until you care fully analyze thQ list. You. find fiction, like Robinson Crusoe, and the Arabian Nights, Jungle Tales, Fables, Adventure, Fairy Stor es, Stories of Wild Animals and Boy Lives of Lin coln and Roosevelt, BUT NO BIBLE STORIES. Room for “Tom Sawyer,” but no^reference to the boys of the Bible or the prophets or patriarchs— no child stories of Jesus or of His apostles. The committee forgot the great women of the Old and New Testament, but did not overlook "Lit tle Women” and "Alice in Wonderland.” W’hy would the American Library Association and the National Educational Association ignore everything religious? Was it an oversight? Hardly. The list g ves conclusive proof that the committee deliberately ignored child literature based on the Word of God. VWhile tk«|P careful ly EXCLUDED ALL religious books they IN CLUDED Van Loon’s "History of Mankind” which gives to man a brute origin and uses pic tures to illustrate an imaginary ascent from ani mal to man. The atheists and the agnostics, having taken charge of our higher institutions of learning are now extending their anti-Christian- propaganda to the graded schools. McMillan Co. has pub lished a book by Margaret E. Wells, entitled “How the Present Came the Past.” It is in tended for “young children” and is being used in seme of the public schools. It traces man’s ancestry back to the brutes and illustrates this fictitious line of descent by pictures of chim panzees and of men and women covered with hair. Now Van Loon is to mislead in the librar ies those who escape the poison of the school room. Christians, it is time to inspect the schools and l'braries that you support by taxa tion to see whether they are undermining the religious faith of your children.* No teacher can cram enough into the mind of a child to offset the harm done if he takes faith out o-t the child’s heart. “Out of the HEART are the issues of life.” W. J. BRYAN. Why Wanamaker? In the death of Honorable John Wanamaker the t’nlted States has lost its greatest merchant, if not its greatest business mail; the Christian church its most prominent layman; the cause of good government a pillar of strength; and multi tudes a friend. For weeks to come the papers will be fulf of tribute, incidents, and anecdotes drawing lessons from his life; and well they may. The passing of such a figure is an event that cannot be overlooked. Adults will become conversant with his unique career and children will be reminded of the possibility of success wh ch lies before every American boy. ^ Why Wanamaker? What is the explanation of the long continued and remarkable growth of his business and influence? A large percentage of those who engage in the mercantile business fail—why did Wanamaker succeed? Qf~those who have succeeded, few have approached h:m in the largeness of their accomplishments. How shall we account for what he did? The first answer is that to know the secret of Wanamaker’s success one must know Wanamak er. He built his life upon the Bible; he was a Christian and took his Christianity seriously. He was a religious man; his faith was simple and took possession of him at an early age. The first recorded words of Christ, uttered when He was twelve, were: “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's bus ness?” Religion is a business —the most important business' of life. Wana maker entered upon the Father’s business before he engaged in the mercantile business. At the age of nineteen he began teaching a Sunday School class and continued teaching this class until he died. He was eighty-four years old and s xty-fiv4 years of this time he was a teacher. Few have made such a record in church work. His advance as a store-keeper showed that he d’d not neglect the business from which he se cured his livelihood, but he never allowed his money-making to encroach upon his work for the Master. As he prospered he gave more and more to the cause of the church and to the ad vancement of Christianity. c ■ Higher crit'cs did not disturb him. He 'did not search the P5ble for things to doubt or con tradict;, he accepted it, as the Word of God. and followed it as h‘s guide. God prospered him and he shared his prosperity with those who were engaged in the work rof the church. He carried the spirit of Christanity into his store as well as into the Sunday School room. He lived his Christianity. Anyone of the millions in America who is willing to follow Wanamaker’s plan of life can make a success of whatever he undertakes. Cir cumstances may help or hinder but chance alone cannot explain such a career as that of John Wanamaker. He improved opportunities. Faith is necessary—faith in God and faith in man. The Bible taught him to trust in the Al mighty and to have fellowship with others. He loved God wfth all his heart and his neighbor as himself. It was my privilege to know Mr. Wanamaker quite intimately for many years and it so hap-', pened that my train schedule carried me through Philadelphia on the morning of his funeral. I visited the church in which his body lay, in state and saw the stream of sorrowing friends who passed by to take a last look at the one whom they had learned ^to respect and love. I contri buted a few flowers, orchids for Mrs. Bryan and lillies of the valley for myself, and on the card described Mr. Wanamaker as he appeared to me: In Memory oF one whose life was a living spring—still flowing. “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord”—they “rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.” W. J. BRYAN. TWO THINGS NEEDED TO HASTEN i REFORMS December 21, 1922.—Mr. George E. Ryan president, King County Democratic Club, Seattle’ Washington. My dear Mr. Ryan: Complying with your request for an expression of opinion I beg to say that I am.heartily in sympathy with the work of your club. The gains made by the -Democratic party last November were so great and so uniform throughout the country that the members of our party have a right to begin the campaign of 1924 with confidence. While we caunot intelligently discuss candidates for some t:me yet, we can discuss the issues that make candidates, for the platform is more important than the candidate and ought to determine who is to run upon it. The election left no doubt as to the growth of progressive sentiment in both parties. The re volt throughout the country against the reaction ary leadership of the Republican party and the react onary tendencies of that leadership cannot be ignored by those who give any attention to our politics. Big business has carried its arro gance so far that the masses increasingly pro test. Now is the time for the Democratic party to propose remedial legislat on demanded for the relief of the people. There are a number of problems which cannot be avoided, such as the bringing of peace in the industrial world, the suppression^ of the profiteers, the relief of the ’farmers, and the use of our moral influence for the promotion of universal peace (it :s possible for us to advise when advice is desired without surrendering independence of action on our part). There are two things which will help to bring all the reforms that are needed; first, legislat on which will providetfor the nomination of the presidential candidates at a national primary. This will put the presidency in the hands of the voters—a necessary step towards the establish ment of the rule of the people. The Federal law need only des'gnate the day and prescribe a few fundamental rules for the .governing of the primary, leaving the-states to complete the work by the passage of laws providing for the state eontrol_of these primaries. The second important reform is the establish ment of a National Bulletin through which the public can secure authentic information, first, as to the issues before the people, second, as to the arguments for and against the various proposi tions upon which the people vote;, and third, in formation as to the merits of candidates legiti mately before the voters. At present all the avenues of 'nformation are in private hands and the presentation of issues is often one-sided in the contested states. Then too; without a Na tional Bulletin the cost of sending out literature, even to a*legHimate extent, in behalf of any na tional candidate almost excludes a poor man from the contest. There should be no pecuniary qual fication for any office, even the highest. Candidates ought to be able tp run upon their merits and not be dependent either upon large fortunes of their own or large contributions from rich friends. With presidential primaries for the selection of candidates and a National Bulletin for the information of tlm people, the Democratic party will have a splendid chance to present its side, and that Js all that is necessary to secure the confidence and support of the pub lic. Success to the work of your organization. W. J. BRYAN. RECEPTION FOR NEW GOVERNOR (From Lincoln Journal, Jan. 5.) What was declared by some to be the largest crowd that ever attended an inaugural reception at the mansion, greeted Governor Charles W. Bryan and the other state officers Thursday evening. For three hours a steady stream of peo ple flowed past the receiving line and shook hands with and congratulated the successful candidates. The receiving line was composed of the following: Governor and Mts. C. W. Bryan, Lieutenant-governor and Mrs. Fred G. Johnson, Secretary of Statev Charles W. Pool, State Auditor George W. Marsh, State Treasurer and Mrtf. Charles D. Robinson, Commissioner Dan Swanson, State Superintendent John Matzen, Attorney General O. S. Spillman, Chief Justice A. M. Morrissey and his neice, Miss Morrissey: Judge and Mrs. C. B. Letton, Judge and Mrs. W. B. Rose, Judge and Mrs. James R. Dean, Judge and Mrs. Chester H. Aldrich, Judge and Mrs. George A. Day, Judge and Mrs. E. G. Good, Railway Commissioner and Mrs. H. G. Taylor, Commissioner and Mrs. T. A. Browne, and Com missioner and Mrs. C. A. Randall. W. J. Bryan yras present but took no active part. State Ad jutant General H. J. Paul, assisted by Major H. C. Stien and the state staff, was in charge. The crowd at times overflowed onto the lawn while wait'ng for a chance at the front door. Once inside it pushed and jammed its way down again. Despite the valiant efforts of the mili tary staff, there was no time when anyone in the front hall or on the stairway could not lift the’r feet from the floor in perfect confidence that they were in no danger of falling. ADDRESS WANTED Mr. David R. Balfer, care of Certain-teed Products Cprporation, Woolworth Building, New York City, wishes to know the present address of his uncle, David Reeves Smith. He will be very grateful to any one who will kindly send him the information.