Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1903)
t ' y THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT. MARCH-2Svl903. ' Ths Common Party -i 4 vl Editor Independent: In offering ' a : iolution to the trust question which is 'being universally demanded by the ; American people irrespective of party i affiliations, it becomes necessary , first - to locate the evil and then to apply - the remedy. And first, what is a trust? A trust may be defined to be a torpor? ation of men, criminally selfish, oper ating under special privileges which . give them a monopoly in trad3 and business. The present action of the coal trust and the action of the mon key trust ia..'S6 ,we lair examples of this class. . ' 'This class of men have obtained par tial control of the democratic party and absolute control of the republican - party. The republican party today as 'a political organization is an aggre gation of trusts. There is not a trust In the United States .but what Is rep resented in the leadership of the re publican party That faction of the ' democrat party dominated by the ; trusts and known as "reorganizers" " are a part of the republican organiza . tion from a business standpoint; their interests are identical and their vote in '96 proves it. .This is why the re publicans, are so anxious about the success of reorganizing the democratic party and so extravagant at this time 1 . their praise of Grover Cleveland. With the democratic party reorganized and' Grover at the head, unwinding some of his bid streotyped tariff ex pressions, followed by David B. Hill shouting 'Tm a democrat" : and the republicans led by "old strenuosity shacKling cunning," the fight would be an easy one for the trusts. , Being the organization of both parties they could not help but win. Then to apply the proper remedy would be to kill the louse that mates the hits. That is to say the demo . cra'.ic party must not be reorganized and the republican' party - must be driven from power and the government turned over to the people. ; Grover Cleveland's ghost -dances, must cease and he be reconsigned to the political tmb from which his business, asso ciates, the trusts, have lately resur rected him. Nor should We cover "his grave with oblivion. Far from it. We should be so kind and generous as to erect over his political dust this pass ing tribute which he so nobly won and . justly -deserves: "Mourned by mon- grels, loved by republican leaders, '. hated by democrats and damned by the whole American people." - Having cleared the ground of. all ob structions between the people and the ' republican party the democrats, pop ; ulists and all people who are. opposed to trusts should unite in one common cause and move in solid phalanx against the republican party.' All this . can be accomplished by fusion if we can keep the mongrels out of the next democratic national convention. But ., Just as long as tha democracy is cursed with these half breeds just that long will the people lack confidence in the party and fusion will prove a fail ure. The proper way to dispose of this class is for the voters in every pre cinct to guard their organizations agairst any and, all impositions from this source. If this cannot be done, or if; they have already obtained par tial control of the various local or ganizations, then rest assured " they will be with us , in the next national convention and while they may not be , able to control the convention they will, by their presence and clamor, de stroy all confidence the people might have in the democratic party and fusion,',-,- v"" Should such be the humiliating posi tion of the party at that time then sur render the name but cling to the prin ciples of democracy and the cause of the American people and let all unite under the banner of the Common Par ty. The call should be to the Ameri can people and the platform drafted should be in strict accordance with their demands. Party prejudice would, under the new party name, give way to sober thought and action, and the forces, seeking the same redress, now scattered and divided, would be united , in one invincible body moving on to sure and certain victory. As for the name, there cannot be anything distateful about it since it Is the common people that are made to suffer at the hands of organized greed. And as the common people include ev ery class except the privileged few, I, for one, should not object to being called a "commoner." Let us hear from others. J. MARION LONG. Versailles, O. V ; Guessed Too High Editor Independent: The time has long passed when I should have re ported upon Liberty Building cards sent last June. To tell the truth, I feel ashamed of my mistake in be lieving that I could dispose of so many. It Is not -so much my mistake as.it, 4s that, of our : people in ; pot taking them. It looked then and I have not changed my mind that a canvass of this county ought to place five hundred cards, with no reform paper in the county" worthy of the name, A splendid wheat crop, it looked like.a missionary field ripe for such a paper as The Independent, but not eo. I found men all over the county with cards who stated that they could not dispose of them. AU manner of ex cuses were given. The stereotyped one was, "I take more papers than I have time to read." ., .. . " V The plutocrats are placing their venal sheets in every populist home; possibly 25 to 50 cents is the price, but in many instances" they are sent free. They even have the galL to send them to my address. I return the cards asking you to send statement of how much I owe you and I will at once forward the amount. - No republican legislature In the his tory of the state - has ever been up against it, equally hard as the pres ent one. If they can worm through their-dilemma, rendering due service to their masters and fooling their con stituents, . "mullet head" will be a mild cognomen for said constituency. Believing, as they do, that they safe ly have the state, I look for them to arrange for a constitutional conven tion to revise the constitution more to the liking of Ihe corporations. If this Is done, a fight for our very existence will . be on. ; . , , JONATHAN HIGGINS. , Cambridge, Neb. i Ask Twice Editor Independent: a I quote from The Independent of February 19, page 13: "While most people, will take half a loaf in preference to no bread, yet in asking for bread it is best to de mand, all you want" That won't always do. It will, in a political sense, land you in the mud nine, times out , of ten. The . people's "servants" . not having been trained that way will not respond. During the "training" of them to believe that doctrine, which:is fundamentally sound, better ask twice-rwith a "wait" between and get "two half loaves." You will Jn . substance have a whole loafrand . no one but yourself will seem to. know it! , .- . FRANCIS KEYES. Longmeadow, Mass. Who Gets If? Editor Independent: Here is a question I would like to have you answer through your paper: The re publicans say that there is only 50 cents in a silver dollar. Please say who gets the other 50 cents. WM. B. HAMILTON. Idalia, Colo. . (Our dollar is the unit of account The tenth part Of it Is. called a dime. The . one-hundredth part, a . cent Hence, one hundred cents or ten dimes equal one dollar. And, hence, the term "fifty-cent dollar" is just as ab surd as to talk about an 18-inch yard or a six-inch foot The material upon which govern ment stamps its flat may be dear or cheap. It may be useful for other purposes after the government stamp is destroyed, and have a market price like any other commodity, as in the case of gold or silver; or it may be of such a nature as to be practically worthless for any other purpose after the government stamp is destroyed as in the case of paper. The 516 grain- of gold, nine-tenths fine or pure, in a twenty-dollar gold piece can be used for nothing else than "money" .without destroying the coin, and,' consequently, making twen ty dollars less in the money supply. For example, a dentist might use the gold to fill teeth. The 412 grains of silver, nine-tenths fine, in a silver dol lar, can be used for nothing else than "money" without destroying the coin and rendering it useless as money. Applying the famous melting-pot test to the two coins this would result: Both would be destroyed as "money;" the 516 grains of gold would sell in the markets at substantially $20 be cause under free coinage of gold that weight of gold metal can be converted into a twenty-dollar gold piece; the 412 grains of silver would sell in the markets today at about 41 or 42 cents', Instead of substantially $1 because' there is no free coinage of silver in the United States and no way of converting the uncoined silver in to a dollar coin. ' Care should be taken to discriminate between the expressions, the "value" of trold bullion and the "price" of sold bullion; the "value" of silver bullion and the "price" of silver bullion. "Price" is "value stated in terms of monev." The "value" of gold bul lion has declined considerable since 1896 in the United States; . 516 grains of gold will exchange for no more com modities on the average than, say, 455 grains would command in 1896, (these figures are not Intended as accurate, but only for illustration)-; yet the mar ket "price" of gold bullion is just the same as it was in 1896 and it' never can fall below the coinage rate (ex cept of course, expenses of getting it to' the mint) as long as there is free coinage of gold. Along with gold, the "value' of silver has doubtless fallen some since 1896; but -its market "price" has fallen greatly. " ' ; ; "I Now, the "value" of a dollar is quite a different thing from the "value' of the material upon which it is stamped or coined. The "value" of a dollar is known by what it will exchange for AS A DOLLAR, and not as so much weight of metal. The more dollars there are and the faster they circulate," the LESS of commodities each one will exchange for which is only another way of speaking of high "prices" of commodities. The fewer dollars thtrc are and the more slowly they clrcu, late, the MORE of commodities each one will exchange-for which is only another way- of speaking of low "prices" of commodities. In the first instance the dollars are "cheap," no, matter what the "price" of the mater ial upon which they were stamped;1 and in the second instancethe dollars, are "dear," regardless of the "price" of the material which carries the gov ernment fiat " "Nobody "gets the other fifty cents,'; for there isn't any other fifty cents to get Silver dollars coined from bul lion purchased by the government at less than $1.29 an ounce would seem to indicate a profit to the government but this is more apparent than real. The fact that the government,, uses such an expensive material when pa per, at one per cent of the cost would do just as well, would indicate a Ics rather than gain. Associate Editor.) -What Has Fusion Accomplished? Editor Independent: : Inclosed find 10 cents for trial three months' sub scription to your paper, the Nebraska Independent - Permit me to say, that I think, for news The Independent, general news I mean; save ! politics, lyotir paper is very clever; but if in politics you are still continuing its clamor, "fusion" and for "fusion" your soul is set, just, "please, Mr. Editor, take a backward view of your, the fusionists' reward for their labors for the past six years what do you find? v What have you accomplished? Knowing' and seeing the result of your efforts as you can't help' seeing," why is it that you con tinue floating fusion? My dear sir, I have but ten cents; not for fusion, noi a penny, but to kill the d d enemy of decent politics I have some energy and will deny my self much to furnish a little of the circulating medium to help stamp the -Cursed infamy from the face of-the earth. Men are so very, very little, when they don't know or rather do know that they like the principles of the party and the name of the other like Shakespeare, Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar, when he mentions ; what's the use? of the evils of 7 HAPWESSotv HORSE: COLLARS Hi ASKYOUR Pe alc r to SKOV Ti BEFORE YOU BUY, tANU'ACTUeC.0 BY ' HARPHAM BROS.CO. Lincoln, Neb. fusion you know too well F. A. FOREMAN. Upton, Pa, (When two or more men agree to do a certain thing, they "fuse." When two political organizations agree to join hands in accomplishing certain things, they "fuse." Co-operate is the correct term, however, unless the two organizations become one. What has "fusion" accomplished? Here in Ne braska it gave the people four years of the best state government they ever had. It took a bankrupt state, whos warrants were being hawked about by brokers af a discount of 3 . to S per cent, whose: treasury , was robbed of more than half a million dollars, with a bonded debt of $468,267.35 and a floating debt of $1,936,273.47, and at the end of four years could show this Not a dollar of bonded debt; a reduc tion of $209,000 In the floatine deht. state warrants at 1 per cent premium ana nara to get at that figure. Not only that, fusion so managed the pa trimony of the school children the land endowments and the securities, as to collect and disburse for the cause of education more money in four years than was ever done in a like period before or since. But becauss Nebraska has many men like Mr. foreman, who will spurn everything that does not bear their party name the party that plundered the state is MSr Pwer and running things with a high hand. Fusion has had no evil effect in Nebraska except to de velop a lot of partisan -lunatics in both the democratic and the populist party. Ed. Ind.) . v Is A Kin' Fusion Editor Independent: Some weeks ago you said that the assertion is made continuously by the republican ONE WAY RATES lo Manf , Points in Cal ifornia Wash ington and flrMr ft n EVERY DAY The Union Pacific 'will sell One-Way Colonist Ticket at the following rates From . Missouri River Terminalsn- $25 to : San Francisco, Los Angeles and many other California ' points. Tickets on sale Feb. 15 to June 15. '03. $20 to Ogden and Salt Lake City. $20 to Butte, Anaconda and Helena. $22.50 to Spokane - and Wanatchee, Wast $25 to" Everett; Fairhaven and New , Whatcom, via Huntington and Spokane.. $25 to Portland, Tacoma and Seattle. $25 to Ashland, Roe burg, Eugene,, Albany and Salem, Via Portland. Tickets on sale Feb. 15 to April 30, 1903. E. B. SLOSSON, Gen. Agt., '. 1044 O st, Lincoln, Neb. press, and also by some men who were ,once populists, that the populist ' party was ; wrecked:, through " fusion. The Independent denies that the -party "is wrecked, or that" any man can prove that fusion proved . detrimental. Now, Mr. Editor,, I wish to say that if fusion has not wrecked the party that it has hurt it like the devil. Your state may be benefited from a finan cial standpoint, but how, is: it with Texas, which ' polled something like 240,000, I believe it was for Kirby for governor? Butler's grip on one part and Parker's with the other part, looks very much like the house. is di vided against itself; and if so, it must fall, if there is not a coming together soon. My prediction was wnen Bryan was nominated, first, that it would re quire five years for the populists to become as strong as they were at that time, if they ever did. Butler-Allen-Jones-Weaver-Bryan, et al., came po near wrecking the populist party. Are any of us sure where we are at? Oh, my God, look how Tom Watson was treated. General Weaver after being egged over in Georgia by 1 the democrats then, well then, then! Ah, that Butler that withheld his no tification papers! It won't do to say that the populist party, is not hurt, and bad at that Who is going to get it together, and what will be the strength of the party if it is collected together again? I was born in the year 1842, in Ar kansas at that, and I nold that a par ty that is good enough to fuse with is good enough to vote for. Ah. look how the court in Texas treated the populists. . ... All can fuse that want to, but for me, I rather stay at home. No fu sion, no. , G. LIGON. Graham, Ind. Ter. Prizes For Short Stories Conkey's Home Journal announces n its April issue just out that it will begin a new department of both seri ous and humorous short stories in its next issue, and prizes are offered for the best stories submitted. A peculiar feature of the contest is an offer of $10 to the person sending the best short story clipped from another pub- ication. This magazine has been set ting a lively pace for its competitors during the past year, and now makes another good move by adding eight more pages. The April number opens with five short stories, which -are fol- owed by several illustrated BDecial articles. The home departments, as usual, contain several features of ex ceptional interest to women.- A waits or the piano is by A. A. Ford,