2
THE NEBRASKA
INDEPENDENT
MARCH 19, 1903.
between democracy and republican
ism. They are afraid of tne repuDii
can party, because they think that it
means negro rule. With them . the
paramount Issue Is the control of their
state governments. They care more
for this one thing than any national
issue. The tariff is but of little con
sequence, compared with the negro
problem. The money issue is of still
less importance. , '
The south is the democratic party.
The north is the republican party.
Here are two conflicting civilizations.
Neither party is truly national in the
sense of being supported about equal
ly throughout the country.
. For about-ten years after the civil
war negroes voted and negroes were
elected to office in the southern states.
This became so offensive to the whites
that negro suffrage became the para
mount issue. Force was used to pre
vent them from votings 'The United
States government was appealed to
for help, and the army was sent to en
force the right of negro suffrage. The
great money panic of 1873 to 1879 came
along. This put a stop to all prosper
ity in the north. The democrats elect
ed the house of representative at
Washington in 1874 and in 187C the
democrats claimed that they had
elected Samuel J. Tilden president.
The country was threatened with civil
war again. The matter was settled
by compromise. One part of the com
rjomlse was that the army should be
rVved rrom toe southern states. As
soto as this was done the "carpet-bag
governments" fell, and there were no
more negroes elected to office no
more negro suffrage.
Thus ended the experiment of ih?,
republicans, to settle the negro ques
tion. For twenty-five years the democrats
have been trying to solve the problem
and thus far have failed. The demo
crats can govern the southern states
in their own peculiar way, all the
time. But they cannot govern the
northern states. There is something
in democratic civilization that does
not find favor in the north. It is the
treatment of the negro and the tariff
question. If the democratic party
should come into power again, it
would set the whole north against it
Mr. Bryan tried to get the party out
of the old rut, but it could not rise
above the old level. A large section
of the party wanted negro slavery and
tariff for revenue only.
The e whites - make tthe ... laws -in the
southern states,, and they ought to
make them in such a way' that men
like Booker T. Washington can - at
least vote.: ' i : -
There are : about nine millions of
negroes in the United States. What
shall we do with them? The south
has appealed to the north, to know
what we shall do with them. , They
are citizens under the 14th amend
ment, not only of the United States,
but of the state "wherein they reside."-
They are citizens because they
are natives of the country. They were
brought here against their will. They
were held in bondage two hundred
years, and then liberated. They can
not be sent out of the country, be
cause they are citizens. If the demo
cratic party discriminates against
them in any way, they will all be re
publicans. They are republicans now
because they have been discriminated
Against by the democrats of the south.
Is the south afraid of negro domina
tion? There are but two states in the
union where they are in the major- j
ity, namely, Mississippi and South
Carolina. If, in these two states, the
whites, who now have the exclusive
power of legislation, would make a
law giving the blacks the right to vote
as they reach a certain grade of intel
ligence, the race problem would soon
be solved. The "door of hope" must
be opened to these people or there
will be a race war. To deny them the
right of suffrage, simply because th,ey
are black, is to reduce them to slav
ery again. This cannot be done,""be-,
cause the federal government, in the
hands of the north, will not tolerate
It And as long as there is any dan
ger of it, the federal government will
be in. the hands of the north.
The president has a right to appoint
or nominate negroes for office. Sena
tor Tillman of South Carolina says
he will vote to confirm the nomina
tion of any negro the president will
name for his cabinet, but he objects
to a negro for collector of the port
of Charleston. If Mr. Tillman wants
to be really magnanimous, let him get
South Carolina and the other south
ern states to nominate Booker T.
Washington or any other capable ne
gro for vice president of the United
States. This would do more than
anything else to do away with race
prejudice. It would furnish an oppor
tunity for the people of the north and
south to indorse virtue under a black
skin. '
In South Carolina there are about
eight hundred thousand negroes
against about six hundred thousand
whites, according to the last census.
This is an increase of both whites and
blacks, since 1890. The -whites are
increasing more rapidly than the
blacks, which indicates that, perhaps,
at some future day there will be more
whites than negroes'.' But, if an elec
tion should be held now, and they
should vote according to color, not a
single white man would be elected
to office. In the United States senate
there would be two negroes from South
Carolina and In the lower house seven
representatives. This would be no
calamity, - provided the senators and
the representatives were intelligent
men, as Dr. Crum is conceded to be.
Blanche K. "Bruce (colored) once oc
cupied a . seat in the United States sen
ate as a senator from Mississippi;
and he was the peer of any white man
in it This indicates that, if the ne
groes were allowed to vote, they
would not always elect ignorant and
degraded negroes to office, -Besides,
they are gradually improving, and
they will continue to improve if the
public schools are kept open to them.
Education is the cure of all evils.
JNO. S. DE HART.
Jersey City, N. J.
MAJORITY RULE
Report of Work Accomplished and Oat-
II for the Future by National Fod-
- eratloa for Majority Belt
On January 5 at the municipal elec
tion in Toronto, a common council
and mayor were elected, pledged to
install a people's veto and direct in
itiative through rules of procedure.
This was the result of questioning
candidates by a non-partisan organi
zation, the candidates being informed
that their replies or failure to reply
would be made public, and every pos
sible effort made to defeat the op
ponents of majority rule. As a result
17 of the 24 aldermen elected are
pledged in writing, and so is the
mayor. , -
Equally good results were obtained
in the city of Detroit, last November,
and in Chicago last April.
, In the state campaigns of last year
the .questioning-of-candidates system
was applied in ten states and with
the usual result, namely, a majority
of the legislative body were pledged
in writing in every state where the
questions were asked ' by a fairly
strong organization. In seven state3
the legislatures were carried, namely,
lumois, Missouri, Colorado, Califor
nia, Washington, Montana and Massa
chusetts. This Is a remarkable show
ing... In Missouri the. candidates for con
gress were quest!ohed( and eight dem
ocrats and one republican are pledged
to majority rule in national affairs, to
be attained through rules of proced
ure. The newly elected United States
senator from Missouri is also pledged
in writing. These pledges are in the
possession of the chairman of the leg
islative committee of the Missouri
state federation of labor, and will be
forvarded to the executive officers of
the American federation of labor at
Washington. ,
A most noteworthy fact is that the
Missouri chairman states that he
found it easier to secure pledges from
the congressmen and senators than
from the candidates for the legislature.
In Illinois both the candidates for
United States senatorship pledged
themselves to the referendum. The
successful candidate made the fol
lowing pledge through the public
press:
"I favor any principle I care not
what it may be called that will en
large the power of the people on all
questions, state and national, that af
fect the well being of the citizens."
There are also pledged to the ma
jority rule system for the control of
trusts, Congressman John Lind of
Minnesota, and many other of tin
newly elected members.
T.e foregoing results are a com
plete demonstration that the refer
endum and the initiative are being es
tablished by merely questioning the
candidates arid publishing their re
plies or failure to reply. In short, by
making majority rule a real issue, a
majority of the candidates are se
cured at once. No candidate dares
to openly oppose the establishment of
majority rule.
THE WORK OF NON-PARTISAN
ORGANIZATIONS.
The questioning of candidates in
last year's campaign was by the leg
islative committees of organized la
bor, and of the grange in the state
of Washington, also by referendum
leagues,' and by non-partisan federa
tlons for majority rule.
These non-partisan organizations
are being reinforced, and to a re
markable extent Since January 1 of
this year, two new .movements -have
been launched:
"THE PEOPLE'S RULE."
Early in January, Hon. George Fred
Williams asked the people of Massa
chusetts, regardless of party, to or
ganize in each precinct a non-parti
san organization for "the distribution
of literature, for full and free de
bate, and for questioning candidates
and pledging candi dates jto the end
that our politicians, officials and leg
islatures be turned from mastery to
service of . the people. . . . ......
As rapidly , as one per cent of the
voters of a community have joined,
organization takes place. Each or
ganizatlon is known as a council, and
is identified by the name of the po
litical subdivision, wherein it exists
By questioning the candidates for
delegates to conventions, it is expect
ed that the tools of the trusts and
other monopolies will be kept out.
This appeals to liberal republicans as
well as to liberal democrats. '
' Three articles of faith are named:
First, the establishment of majority
rule; second, the ownership by ths
people of all public utilities; third, a
restriction upon the power of judges
in equity to take, the liberty of the
citizen without trial by jury.
Mr. Williams states that the move
ment is making' splendid headway,
The incentive and opportunity for ac
tive workers are set forth by Mr.
Williams in a statement which he
gave to the public at the time of an
nouncing the new organization, and
published in The Independent of Jan
uary 22 -and 29. ,
Membership in a non-partisan or
ganization, along with membership in
one's party, is not a new idea. For
example, the members of referendum
leagues are also members of political
parties. In the new organization in
Massachusetts the aim is to make ma
jority rule an issue. This is accom
plished by questioning the candidates
of all the parties and publishing their
replies or refusal to reply. Experi
ence shows that the plan is effective.
In Missouri the republican party re
fused to pledge in its platform that,
if placed in power, it would submit to
the people a constitutional amendment
for majority rule; but later when the
republican leaders found that their
candidates were to be questioned by
organized labor they promised to write
letters and advise their candidates
to answer favorably the questions as
to majority rule. In Calif ornia . also
the republican leaders refused to place
in the platform a pledge to submit a
constitutional amendment, but of the
80 successful candidates in the house,
59 promised in writing that they
would vote "to submit the amendment.
Equally good results have been at
tained wherever the questioning has
been backed by a few men who real
ly meant business. Publicity does the
work. . In no case has ' a candidate
dared to openly oppose majority rule
The questioning of candidates is a
great success. Each rr.onth the work
becomes easier for the people are
working up to the fact that they can
free themselves by establishing ma
jority rule.
PARTISAN CLUBS-
DIVISION OF LABOR.
Since January 1 the movement for
questioning candidates as to majority
rule has been reinforced by not only
"the people's rule" in Massachusetts,
but by "A Call to Arms'" by Mr. Bry
an in The Commoner, the request be
ing that a democratic club be organ
ized in every precinct to instruct dele- j
gates to the democratic convention.
These instructions will include, of
course, one for the referendum and the
initiative. Mr. Bryan and his co
workers are thorough believers in ma
jority rule.
Republican clubs will also be or
ganized, without doubt, for the pur
pose of overcoming the trusts' oppo
sition to the renomiuatlon of Presi
dent Roosevelt
These partisan clubs will attend to
the questioning of candidates at tho
primaries and conventions. Next year
the democratic clubs will do the ques
tioning at the democratic primaries
and conventions, and the republican
ciuds win question tne candidates at
the republican primaries and conven
tions. After both parties have made
their nomination, organized labor and
the grange should question the candi
dates of "all the parties, and other
non-partisan organizations can do the
same; for example, non-partisan fed
erations for majority rule, W. C. T.
U. organizations, equal suffrage as
sociations, etc
ABSOLUTE NEED FOR QUESTION
ING BY NON-PARTISAN
ORGANIZATIONS. -
The questioning of nominees by
non-partisan organizations is the only
way to insure favorable action for the
referendum and the initiative. Ex
perience shows this. Many times we
nave had the platform of one of the
great parties In a state and in the
nation declare for the referendum and
initiative, but without making it a
real issue In the campaign. In no in
stance has this method brought re
sultsall the favorable action by leg
islative bodies for the referendum and
initiative has been the result of non
Ask For
Help
A Postal Will Briruj You a Way to
Get Well. -
Think how often you have read this .
offer. Why do you wait, while thou
sands write me and get well ?
,' If you sick ones could only know
what I know, you all would write.7 -
I will mail you an order good at;
any. drug store for six .bottles Dr.
Shoop's, Restorative. You may take
It a month on trial. If it succeeds, the
cost is $5.50. If it fails, I will pay the
druggist myself and your mere word
shall decide it
Whatever your prejudice or doubt,
you must know this: If the remedy
did not succeed, the offer would ruin
me. It must be apparent that I have
learned how to cure.
When I have the faith to take all .
the risk, won't you merely write a
postal to get well?
I have spent a lifetime in learning
how to strengthen weak inside nerves.
My Restorative, brings back that pow
er which alone operates the vital or
gans. I treat a weak organ as I would
a weak engine, by giving it the power
to act. My way always succeeds, save
when a cause like chancer makes a cure
impossible. And most of these chron
ic diseases cannot be cured without
it '. .... - . .:;
You'll know this when you read my,
book. :
Simply stata which
book yon want, and
address Dr. Bhoop,
Box 940, B acta, ft'ia.
Mild cases, not chronic, are often cured by
one or two bottles, druggists.
roox no. i ok vnnrsik
BOOK UO. f OH TH HI ART.
ICOK HO. I OH THI X1DKKTS.
IOOK HO. t rox VOMIW.
COOK HO. t IOK MX. M)t4
10OX HQv OH XHIUMATIB
partisan action. This is because no
candidate desires to openly oppose
majority rule, and consequently the
question is not debated in the cam
paignsit cannot become a live cam
paign issue. A declaration for major
ity rule by one of the parties does not
make It a live issue, for the reason
just stated; but wherever a non-partisan
organization questions the can
didates of all the parties they are all
obliged, to pledge themselves, and in
writing, provided the questions are
asked by men who Really meaii 1 to
bring the question' "before the public
should : the leading candidates refuse -to"
reply. ... For illustrations showing
that such has been the case see phe-'
nomenal results of . last year's non
partisan campaign, described in this,
article. '
There being, then, a distinct field of
work for non-partisan organizations,
and also a distinct field of work for
partisan clubs, it follows that the
organization of partisan clubs should
lead to the formation of non-partisan,
organizations in order to complete the
establishment of majority rule. This
system of double organization is prac
ticable because few, if any, meetings
of members, are required. The ques
tioning of candidates is done by the
executive officer on the letter-head of
the organization. The latent power in.
the organization does the work the
power which the executive officer has
to bring out the voters should a can
didate refuse to declare for popular
government
And the formation of a non-partisan
federation should lead to the for
mation of partisan clubs, provided the "
questioning at primaries and conven-,
tions Is left to the partisan clubs, as
we advise that it should be.
WILL TEND TO BUNCH
THE REFORM VOTE.
Populists, socialists, prohibitionists,
and all who believe in progressive poN
itics ere desirous of installing "a di
rect Initiative by 5 or 10 per cent of
the voters. This opens the door to
live campaigns on each of the' leading
reforms. The groups that are work
ing for the several reforms can each
bring its question to a direct vote of
the people. To secure this system is
the province of the non-partisan fed
erations for majority rule, and tho
formation of these organizations will
tend to get together the reform votes,
and for the following reasons:
If only one of the leading candi
dates is pledged, then there will be;
little incentive to nominate a third i
candidate; for the aim of the re
form element is the establishment of
majority rule, which requires the elec-
tion of the candidate who is pledged ;
to vote for that system. And where5
both leading candidates are pledged
there will still be a choice between
them, and the reform element, being i
assured of an opportunity to secure;
in the future a direct ballot on their ;
particular reform, will be anxious to i
help elect the most progressive of
the two leading candidates. In short
the formation of non-partisan feder
ations will tend to bunch the reform