Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1924)
‘Restore Clean Government’ Pleads Keynoter Senator Harrison ' 5 G. 0. P. Administration Bitterly Arraigned in Democratic Tocsin Tells Convention That Republican Rule Has Been “Honey combed With Graft and Corroded With Corruption; Butler, Stearns and Slemp Are Dubbed “G. O. P. Musketeers.*’ Denounces Foreign Policy of Harding and Coolidge New York, June 24.—The Keynote address of the convention delivered by Senator Pat Harrison of Mississippi, follows; Chairman Hull, ladles, and gentle men, 48 years ago In the city of St. Louis, the hosts of democracy met in convention to dedicate themselves to purging corruption from the public service. We meet today for a rededi cation to the same purpose. There was corruption then; there Is a Sat urnalia of corruption now. There were disgraced public officials then, repudiated by their party and under arrest; but today Fall goes unmo lested on hia ranch In New Mexico; Jlaugherty sat with presidential ap proval in the convention at Cleve land, and Daugherty’s attorney was chairman of the committee created to oil the steam roller of the worst boss ridden convention of a generation. It was In that convention In 1876 that democracy turned to that superb and matchless leader, Samuel J. Tilden, to bring the goverment hack to honesty and carry the party to victory. It Is particularly appropriate that I read to you one plank of the democratic platform of that year, written by that great New Yorker: "When the annals of this republic show the disgrace and censure of a vice president; a late, speaker of the house of representatives marketing his rulings as a presiding officer; three senators profiting secretly by their votes as lawmakers; five chair men of the leading committees of the late house of representatives exposed In jobbery; a late secretary of the treasury forcing balances in the pub lic accounts; a late attorney general misappropriating public funds; a sec retary of the navy enriched or enrich ing friends by percentages leVied off the profits of contractors; an ambas eador to England censured In a dis honorable speculation; the president's private secretary barely escaping con viction upon trial for guilty complic ity In frauds upon the revenue: a secretary of war Impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors—the dem onstration Is complete that the first step In reform must be the people’s choich of honest men from another party, lest the disease of one political organization Infect the body politic and lest by making no change of men or party we get no change of meas ures and no real reform." ' The moral is plain: the country will make Its own application. At the outset, let It he understood that this convention, composed of the military representatives of the de mocracy of the nation, is no cold-stor age affair. It Is going to be red-hot. highly seasoned and well prepared We were not sent here under an executive order by the candidate to notify the people. We are here by mandate of the people to name the. candidate—the next president of the United States. The democratic party Is the friend • of business, big and small; it delights to see the reflected glory from burn ing furnaces; the contentment from happy and prosperous farm homes; the crowded lobbies of counting houses; the steady streams of heavily leaded trains, and the early hustle of mining camps. It rares not how large the scale or big the investment, what it is most concerned about is honesty In operation. C ALLS SPECIAL PRIVILEGE CORNERSTONE. The cornerstone of the republican party Is special privilege, and today 1?» grip Is more firmly tightened and lt» place more secure than at any time In its long history. It needs no cards to gain admittance to the White House, no password to the congres sional committee rooms. Crooked business needs only to ges ture or special privilege to wink to make this administration understand snd do. It is against this hrutal thing that we will wage relentless war In this campaign. We will not pitch our camps nor stack our arms until the American masses and honest business are freed from Its strangle hold. They may direct their poisonous gases at us, but no camouflage can be con trived that will give covert and pro tection to the Pharisee. They ran de. scribe us as they may—hurling an athemaa will he futile—for these guarded posts of favoritism will be taken, these fortresses of special privilege and unjust, power must fall. In the guarded orchards of this ad ministration the golden apples of spe cial privilege have been gathered by the favored few. It Is the guardian of every special Interest. The mother never guarded her tender young more zealously than has this administra tion watched over the needs of Its petted and pampered puppets. Not only In the administration, hut In ths enactment of’laws these Inter ests come first. The administration’s late snd lamented tax proposal was grown In the Mellon patches of spe cial privilege. Its propagation was a work of republican art. For a while It was thought to he a very heautlful, large, colorful, and Juicy thing. It attracted unusual at tention. The Invited guests, a aelected few In number, smacked their lips In anticipation of the feast. But when it was examined and Its parts dissect ed. its rottenness was revealed. No setting was ever more adroitly staged than when this scheme of tsxatlon first made Its dehut. It was billed for passage at the psychological moment. The people were stooped under a heavy load of taxation. For three long years they had felt their country •lipping through th»*T**ults of a riotous and debauched administration. They had seen the natural resources of this government dissipated, its charted courses abandoned, its lead ers corrupted. They saw a policy of passivity adding discredit abroad and bankruptcy at home. Their hearts were heavy and their spirits low. Any ray of hope that might bring the slightest relief was welcomed. When the secretary of the treasury offered his plan and the president endorsed It, the American people did not stop to study nor tarry to think. But reason follows hys teria, and right ultimately triumphs. What is this melon that Mellon I .... ■.- ■ sought to cut? It would have given 1,200 of the 3,585,985 income tax pay ers In America 61 per cent of the total reduction. INCOME OF $5,000,000 Cl'T $1,331,832. Under its benign provisions an in come of $5,000,000 was to receive a reduction of $1,331,832, while an in come of $3,000 would have received only $8.75 reduction. Through Its un restricted earned income provisions it would have opened an avenue of escape to every tax dodging capitalist In America. Written in the r;old lines of that proposal wan the inspiration of its author, that the less exacted from the highly favored few, and the more demanded from the less-favored many, the greater the good to the common country. The champions of the pro posal believe that prosperity should come from the rrumbs that fall from the tables of the rich; that If you legislate solely to make the well-to do prosperous their prosperity will seep through upon those below'. The republican party is the ancient enemy of the income tax. It is contrary 1o reactionary republican doctrine and inimical to republican practices. The income tax was never Intended to touch poverty. It exacts no settle ments from bankrupt courts—fore closes no mortgages and forces no sales. It is collected only where pros perity smiles and earnings abound. As a means of raising revenue it is one of our party's priceless legacies, and as such It. shall be neither weak ened nor destroyed. i " \ 1 Coolidge Effort Frustrated. ^-——-/ "When th# president, nnd hi* secre tary of th* treasury, with all the hosts of selfish interests, charged on th# battle front of th# American con gress in behalf of the Mellon plan, demoorary and progressive republi canism stood firm, it was the same ancient contest and for the untile old cause. Under the leadership of Sim mons In the senate and Garner in the house we triumphed, not because we were numerically strong, but because we were sssuredly right. Through the democratic law every taxpayer In America, will get a 25 per cent reduc tion this year. Every person who pays an Income tax will he required to pay less in the future than In the past. And this democratic legislation, against which all the agencies of this administration have inveighed, will give a greater reduction in taxes than would have the Mellon plan to every person whns# annual income amounts to less than 157,000 annually. Out of the total of 3.555,3*5 Income taxpayers in America 3,5*0,555 will receive a greater reduction In the democratic plan than they would have received under th# Mellon plan. DEMOCRATS SOUGHT GREATER REDUCTIONS In the reduction of taxes the demo cratic party sought greater reduction* and broader eliminations than did the republican nominee or the secretary of the treaaury. In the administra tion a mad effort to forestall democ racy's desire to effect greater redu tlons than those recommended by the administration the Treasury depart ment Juggled figures and deceived th# public. Th* admlnlstralon said that th* Treasury department would only stand for a reduction of $330,000,000. Th# demorratle party gave them a reduction of $470,000,000. The administration said that the tax on candies, checks, notes, auto mobile parts, amusement places, drafts and soft drinks should remain. The democratic party said thoae taxes must go. The administration said that If we would increase taxes on 3,5*0.585 In come tax payers nnd reduce the taxes on 5,400. it would release money for productive enterprises and increase th# prosperity of all. The demorratle party answered that Indubitable fects refuted aueh an argument. It was not reaaonlng they sought nor facta they desired, hut more spe cial privileges to the favored few they craved. In 1322, out of $2,*73 000,000 *««et* listed for estate taxes, the^e was not found enough tax-free securities to cover funeral expenses. Kor the yeer 1821 th* total net Income return* from business amounted to $2,356,318, 000, and only $47,000,000 of thla amount wsa returned by Individual* whose incomes were In excess of $70, 000 annually. The democratic plan for reducing all taxea, but reducing them equitably on th# theory of ability to pay. Vill result In releasing more money for investments in pro ductlve enterprises than would have the Mellon plan. The republican nominee in reluct antly signing the measure declared for its immediate reform. What does he mean by reform? Does he propose to change the law by transferring the burdens carried hy 5.4*10 whose backs are broad to the three and one half millions whose hacks are bowed? Poes he propose to make up the re ductlon on the 5.4n0 favored fetv bv resurrecting the many nuisance taxes on the unfavored many? Is that his challenge? Then we accept It. With the promises of the 1020 cam paign to reduce the cost of living re sounding in our ears, the country be held in the passage of the Fnrdney McCumher tariff law the most flagrant tepudiation of campaign pledges In all the history of political parties, it wat a law that reeked with special favors. Every line in it added to the living costs of the American consumer. When the iniquitous Schedule K of the Payne-Aldrlch law was enacted, carrying an 11-cent duty a pound on raw wool, the whole country was aroused and drove the Taft adminis tration from power. The defeat was decisive. Utah and Vermont were the sole republican survivors. But this same reactionary group, under the inspiration of representatives of these twin states, ignored the facts of re cent history and fastened upon the American people a tariff rate on raw wool of 31 cents a. pound. Tariff rates on countless other things were proportionately increased. Nothing escaped their deadly aim. In the framing of the law the time-honored republican theory of equalizing the difference in cost at home and abroad was not considered. The only ques tion asked. How much protection do you want? The so-called representa tives of the people surrendered com pletely to the representatives of the predatory Interests and played with their masters the game of "tit for tat," to the betrayal of the American consumer nnd the replenishment of the republican exchequer. NEVER UNMINDFUL OF CALI, FOR AID Not only did It add $4,000,000,000 additional burden upon the American masses, hut it revealed the nation's hypocrisy toward war-torn Europe. AVe maintain highly organized and efficiently managed humanitarian or ganizations to raise and distribute to the world's oppressed. We sometimes invade the national treasury, graci ously to give to the needy of foreign lands. America has never been un mindful of any cry of distress that came to her from any part of the world. That la the spirit of the American heart. Vet this reactionary group that has brought ruin to the country and discredit to their party employed every means to check Eu ropeg rehabilitation and shackle her trade. Demanding payments on the one hand, they prevented them on the other. It was a policy that enriched the affluent and impoverished the needy. It closed the markets to our farmers and lifted the prices of their purchases. It tightened the grip of the favored few and dampened the hopes of the struggling many. The doctrine of equal rights to none and special favors to some was ne\er more firmly embedded than in the Fordney McCumber tariff law. As Indefensible as era these two offsprings of governmental formation, they are not comparable to the ad ministration's ship-subsidy proposal. Projected in the winter of 1922, fol lowing the chilling frosts of that No vember election, it planned with the aid of an army of lame ducks, repudi afed at home and fondled at Wash ington, to make a "quick get-away.” They Bought to lay upon the Ameri can taxpayer an additional burden of $850,000,1100 to subsidize the shipping trust. Your democratic representa tives in congress, aided by the pa triotic progressives, withstood their mad onslaughts—for three months held them at bay, and through a high ly organized filibuster prevented the passage of the measure. In all the speeches delivered in the Cleveland convention, or in the plat form there adopted, not a word was written nor a whisper uttered of the administration's ship subsidy propo sal. If that proposal had become a law, the immediate appropriations to carry it into effect would have denied any reduction of taxes this year, or in the immediate years to come. The Harding-Coolldge administration was willing to give millions to the ship ping trust, but not one cent to the American soldier. The platform of the republican party and the speech of the tempo rary chairman of the republican con vention proclaims the budget law as a republican accomplishment — the disarmament conference, the reduc tion of the number of governmental employes, the decreases in the amount of snnusl appropriations and the national debt as republican achievements. It is regrettable that we can not accord It this wild ac claim. The budget law was urged at the instance of a democratic president and received the vote of every demo cratic representative. It was vetoed by the democratic president only be cause an unconstitutional provision was included. It was then psssed by a republican congress atid signed by a republican president in the proper and constitutional language suggest ed by the democratlo president In his veto message. The disarmament conference was held, not because of a republican ad ministration but In spite of the re publican administration. It was first suggested by a democrat, and urged by democrats. The fight waa renewed by Borah, a republican, yea, but one who wisely declined to become asso ciated with the bankrupt republican partnership In the coming campaign, one whose opposition to the reaction ary control of Ills party haa ever been constant and aggressive. Under his lesdershlp, end over the most unre lenting opposition of the admlnletra tion, the sentiment was crystallized, the law- enforced, and the disarms ment conference called. NUMBER OF CIVIU KMIM/OYKS REDUCED It Is true that during the more than three years this administration has controlled the government the number of civil employes In the government service and the annual appropriations have heen reduced. Those reductions came, however, not because of any re publican reforms. They were the nat ural reductions that flow from a re adjustment of abnormal conditions occasioned by the war. If we did not have bigger things to discuss, greater achievements to proclaim, and higher purposes to announce, we might claim that In 18 months of democratic ad ministration, Immediately following the war, not only did we reduce ap propriations In larger amounts than ever did the republican party but we reduced the national debt by- more than two and one-half billions of dol lars and the number of civil employes by 300,OOP. Amid all this deceptive cry of econ omy let It be remembered that this republican party, during Its less than four years of control, hae expended $9 892,000.000 more than did the democratic administration during the whole five years Immediately preced !ng the war. -—-N nela through which our surplus prod ucts move. It might have visualized world conditions and courageously assumed the part befitting a great na tion. It might have reduced living costs, redeemed pledges to the sol dier, followed a definite domestic pro gram, and adopted a broad and states manlike foreign policy, but, even then, It would have availed it noth ing with Its carnival of corruption. The least that the American people expect of their public servants Is common honesty. They will forgive their passivity, overlook their Indis cretions, and, too often, forget their Impotency, but to them corruption is Inexcusable, graft la indefensible. Pizarro and his adventurous band, as they set their faces toward the golden west, were not. more inspired in quest of treasure than this admin istration. They were -looking for gold, heaps of gold, shimmering, gleaming gold. They did not wait to touch the nerves of mother earth nor drag the current's flow in their mad enthusiasm; in greedy haste they grasped the sparkling sand, then cast It down with curses when they found the glittering grains were not of gold. From cabinet head to republican rep resentatives in congress, like a plague the disease spread. It became epi demic, and while the world looked on the great physician of this adminis tration in sullen silence refused to prescribe a remedy or attempt a cure. Gallant soldiers, who never flinched in battle or cowed in action, who, like madmen, threw themselves into the jaws of death for the glory of their country, were robbed; widows' mites and orphans* pittances were stolen; seats in the I.’nited States senate placed upon the auction block and sold like merchandise; natural re sources secretly squandered; courts of the land mocked, congressional commltteea defied; and the scales of i - I, ' - justice tipped by the weight of Well d» tkM ministration know tiiat there is more blood in tire body than what mantle* in the cheek, more profit in the oflb < than exhibited in the salary. CITES KKCOKIk OK INVESTIGATION It is the brazen effrontery of t) s administration that challenges our attention. They would halt these in quiries hy hysterical cries and fore boding predictions. They say. "Y , r are hurting business." "You are de stroying confidence." Our answer < "We are helping business." "We are restoring confidence." "We are sav ing the government hy performing an operation to preserve the life r.f the nation itself." Theirs is The Spat tan morality. Not the corruption hut the discovery constitutes the crime. Instead of applruidlng the investiga tors, they make war upon the inves tigation. Instead of condemning t exposed and praising the exposure, they praise the exposed and condemn the exposure Decry them as the. will, the American people know that it was these investigations—con ducted by democrats, yes, hut through republican committees—that sent Albert Fall to Three Ttivers a disgraced man and proven criminal. It was these investigations that re vealed such a gross indifference and utter incapacity of the navy depart ment and compelled Kdwln Denhy's retirement front the cabinet. It was these investigations that unfolded a condition in the Department of Jus tice that shocked sensibilities and diove Daugherty back to WtrtilBgtoiuflj Court House. It was these investiga-^B tions that ranged conspirators against ~ their government to take their own liveg rather than tell the truth and unbosom the criminating secre's against their own criminal allies It (Turn to Page Seven, Column One.) -II Corruption Called Inexcusable ______) \ The American people have taken the measure of this administration. It may ha\e been able to free Itself from sectional idolatry and to have looked beyond the sky lines of New England It might have heard the groans of the distressed farmer* of the west and sympathetically responded. It might have sought markets and re moved the tariff jams in the chan - \ Ready— and willing I Whether you come to 'this store to buy a new Kodak, a roll of film, to have some prints made ortoaskforphotographic information,vouwill find our salesmen ready and i willing. Ourbusinessistoserve as well as sell. Come in and see. E&atinan Kodak Co. (The Robert Dempster Co.) 1813 Fsrntm St. Branch Siam 308 Sooth 18th St. M 7 11. 111 ■ V-o-i-l-e F-r-o-c-k-» F.xquiait* VolUi ao dainty and •mart, ao colorful and fatr.hlnf, «n • ura ara thay nf winnini tha Lloni* thar« of favor. 15.00 F. W. Thorne Co. 1812 F«rn«m St. , Children cry for MOTHERFletcher’s Castoria is a pleasant, harmless Substitute for Castor Oil, Paregoric, Teeth ing Drops and Soothing Syrups, especially prepared for Infants in arms and Children all ages. To avoid imitations, always look for the signature of Proven directions on each package. Physicians everywhere recommend it Special Sumner Train Service to Glacier Park GNs,w and Improved Service this Summer on THE BURLINGTON You leave Omaha late this afternoon and reach Glacier Park in time for luncheon day after tomorrow. SWIFT—DIRECT-DEPENDABLE SERVICE Observation Car—Dialog Car—Every Travel Canv—leave Special summer excursion fares reduce the round trip to $$!•#*« with stop-overs where you wish. Without extra cost your ticket may include the won derful thousand mile tour along the east slope of the Continental Divide—right past the gateways to Rocky Mountain National-Estes Park; to Denver and the fascinating Colorado playland. A free side trip to the Colorado Springs-Pikes Peak region and return is yours for the asking, and for only $4.50 more your tickets may include transportation to the Gateways of the Yellowstone Geyserland. Write, phone or call for detailed information about this great trarel bargain. We’ll he happy to supply you srith illustrated booklets and lo assist you in planning your trip. BURLINGTON TRAVEL BUREAU lilk and Farnaas, Omaha, Nab. PkMM Atlantia «7S ana aa»l J. W. SWARPF.Off Pin. Age. J. b. REYNOLDS, Ckt rkt. A«t. sums MJR I Burlington (font Gamble on I Shirt Values I PrayA Shirt Qmurance, I QAAirrm a full years wear3 § When you buy an “ordinary” shirt you I “gamble” on the length of time it will wear. I When you buy an Karl & Wilson Shirt (sold I only at Prav's Stores) you get a full year's I service—or we replace the shirt. I Don't gamble on shirt values—buy a genuine I Karl fr Wilson Shirt, at Prav’s and solve the I shirt problem for a full year. I $2.00 and Better l pR&r§ Store Hours 9 A. M. to 5 P. M. A Week’s Sale of Fancy Linens I * 331/3% Discount I Bridge Luncheon Sets of Cream Crash Linen ^ With Real Italian Embroidery Table piece and four napkins beautifully work'd. The price depends upon the elaborateness of the embroidery design. *589 to $n89' Cream Crash 13-Piece Guest Towels Luncheon Set Each of the four edge. Composed of a scarf and worked with Italian wh£h has much embroidery and one end embroidery. The dis is beautifully decorated. count price— *l00and$l50 ®2175 These and many other beautiful pieces of both Real Italian'Cream Crash Linens and Real Hand Embroidered Madeira Linens. STREET FLOOR immmm^“Tlif Best Place to Shop. After .1 g^ Give your nature-loving soul a real treat—in the beautiful u y 'C RVcr try ! Ozarks Eafihr and quickly reached ? C Wonderful camp life flood hotel* \ , X cloha— cotta fle* Tnrillinfl exploration *ld\ trip*. Pine boafinj. bathinfl. riihinfl float tripa down the .lame* and >Vhite Riven— every mile a miracle of beauty. I Clow dimmer vacation fare* to HoMi-fter, Branaon and (Ja/ena. I C For illu*trated booklet and detailed / travel information call on or write to / T F Oodfrer / IXtlfK-f Pa»*««4er Alerf | I#* f,iat N.tlla.h »><*« Jariaoa 4411) I k>a»afc«. Ne* i
