Iv'lll lv
Vol. XV.
LINCOLN NEB., JUNE 18, 1803.
No. 4.
TO ARMS
National Secretary Edgerton Calls an Unofficial and
Informal Conference of Reformers to Meet
in Denver, Colo., July 27th.
TO BE A PARTY OF THE PEOPLE
Provide a Political Home for the Large Army of Voters Who are Not Repub
licans, Cleveland Democrats or Karl Marx Socialists.
Editor Independent: There must be
some avenue through which those who
believe in the rule of the people can
vote for their principles. At this
time it seems inevitable that the reac-
tionary . element of tne democratic
party will capture the next national
convention. At the best, the most that
can be hoped for from that organiza
tion is a meaningless platform, on
which will be placed a colorless candi
date, both of which will be acceptable
Dot republicans, Cleveland democrats,
o Karl Marx socialists. They must
have a political home. How is it to
be provided them?
This army of voters is composed of
advanced democrats, former republi
cans, - populists, single taxers, the
more moderate socialists and other
reformers who give themselves ao
party name. In the last two cam
paigns nearly all' of them followed Mr.
Eryan. Where are they to turn
now? - " '
Will it be to Mr. Roosevelt? On
u-hnt ''crni-mrl ? Reni-isp h has admir
able qualities? So had Mr. McKinley.
So has had almost every man that
ever sat in the presidential chair. Yet
that fact did not cause men who be
lieved in other principles to support
these presidents at the polls. Shall
we vote for Roosevelt because of his
alleged antagonism to the trusts? Af
ter all, is it not largely "sound and
fury signifying nothing?" Sensation
alism will never settle grave national
problems. Even if the president were
never so favorably disposed, the real
governing power is in a little clique of
United States senators, everv one of
whom is clos" to one or more of the
. great trusts. Does anyone imagine
that this power behind the throne will
permit anything to be done really in
imical to the interests of the great
corporations? Mr. noosevelt has been
in office nearly two years, with both
houses of his own political party.
What has been done to curb the trusts ?
The anti-merger decision? But ar
rot the very roads involved reaching
the same ends by other means? Are
there not more trusts now than when
Mr. Roosevelt took the oath of office?
Are they not just as oppressive to the
people? What reason is there for
"suporting the republican party now
more than there was in '96, or 1900"
An evanescent prosperity?
No. There is no hope in this direc
tion, nor does any real reformer think
that there is.
Then where will he turn? Will it
be to the Cleveland-Gorman-Hill dem
ocracy? He might as well go to r3
publicanism and be done with' it; for
there is practically no difference be
tween them. If you must take a cer
tain medicine, it is better to do it
knowingly than under a misleading
label.
Will he espouse the socialist party?
Personally, I believe in the socialistic
trend. But I do not take very much
stock in the millenium-in-a-minute
idea.' The socialist party demands
that you take the whole program or
nothing. It does not believe in re
form, it says, but in revolution. Ev
erything is wrong and must be over
turned at once. It has no use for eov-
ernment ownership. That it denounces
, as state capitalism. i
AH that the most. ;ardent supporter
f of socialism can " claim' for it is t that,'
as advocated, It is a theory, an experi
ment However well it looks on pa
per, it still is untried. Does any ra
tional man Imagine that the great,
ccrservative American people will
turn over all existing institutions to
substitute therefore an experiment?
Does history teach sucn a tfling? Or
ccmmoji sense?
It is evolution, not revolution, that
does things. Revolution only occurs
where some impediment is placed In
the way of evolution. It is still evo
lution that accomplishes the results.
Evolution is tut another name for
growth. It is a slow process. You
cannot force things in unnatural
ways. France tried the revolution
ary, get-rich-quick plan to secure a
republic. Yet the republic was eighty
years in coming. So will it be with
socialism. It must come a step at a
time, if at all.
Abuse reform as you will, reform is
yet the process of evolution. One part
reformed here and another thee.
Thus come species. And thus come
governmental policies.
The spirit of the socialist party is
not entirely wholesome. Class-consciousness
is not the right way. That
means hatred. Love is the only con
structive force. Not through division
and denunciation lies the road, but
through universal brotherhod. Kin
dred to the above defects is a certain
Godless, materialistic element in the
(Continued on Page 3.)
THE MAILS OF THE GODS
From WiUhire' Mags ine for Jane.
J.
(Nothing new has developed since
last week regarding C D. No. 75584,
the complaint that "large number of
copies of the issue of May 14, 1903,
were mailed at the pound rate of post
age to names furnished by persons in
terested in the circulation" of The In
dependent. His Mightiness, Czar Mad
den, has not yet issued his ukase
which will forbid The Independent
second-class rates but it may come
any day. Practically c every single
taxer who purchased copies of that
issue (The Henry George Edition),
upon being acquainted of the fact that
"complaint" had been made, wrote a
strong letter to Czar Madden show
ing what "interest", the purchaser hal
ir circulating the paper. In the
meantime, the postofflce scandals give
added interest to the story Wilshire
tells in the June number of his maga
zine. Ed." Ind.)
THE MAILS OF TH3 GODS.
The mills of the gods grind slowly,
as a rule, but in some instances they
do move with reasonably rapidity. It
is only eighteen months ago that the
postofflce department perpetrated the
outrage of refusing this magazine
second-class entry on the ground that
is! was "designed primarily for adver
tising purposes," classifying it with
the advertising circulars which some
manufacturers get out for the purpos?
of advertising their goods and which
are required to pay third-clas3 rates.
And now it is the turn of the post
office. In the February number, 1902,
I wrote editorially: - "Is Third Assist
ant Postmaster General Madden aware
of the clique organized, in the United
States, for the purpose of blackmailing
publishers whose business success de
pends upon their uninterrupted enjoy
ment of second-class privileges for
their publications? Was this maga
zine , suppressed by Mr. Madden be
cause its editor declined to be bled $5,
000 to swell the funds of this delect
able gang?"
Today the country Is ringing from
"Madden 'Educational Subscriptions."
Under "Mr. Mad den's postal laws and regulations it seems
to be unlawful for v. populist or socialist publication to mail
out single copies at the pound rate if paid for by one person
and sent to another, especially if the person who pays is "in
terested" in circulating the paper he buys! But Mr. Madden
has said (in Circular VI )t that "the exception to the rule that
the person who receives the publication as a subscriber must
pay for it with Ais own money is intended to cover the case of
genuine gift subscriptions with no other intention than to com
pliment the receiver." Up to date The Independent has not
learned Mr. MaddenV definition of the word "interested'
but it has decided to mate a special rate for
Madden Educational Subscriptions,
giving The Independent
Five Months for 25 Gents.
You can buy one of these cards "with your own money"
and use it for your own subscription; and if your pocketbook
will permit, buy as many, more as you like and present to
friends whom you wish to compliment. We have some inter
esting mattertm this Madden business that you cannot afford
to miss. Send for one. or more Madden Educational Sub-
en I to end with the postofflce scan
da a. Every day brings fresh disclos
ur s of rottenness and corruption In
th postofflce department
lere are a few clippings from this
w ek's daily papers. This is from
tli New York Evening Post:
A SMOTHERED POSTOFFICE
SCANDAL.
Ex-Postmaster General Smith, Perry,
Heath, and Others Implicated iu
Statement by Removed C .shier
of Washington City Post- '
office Asked by Post
master General ,
Payne to. Ex
plain. Postmaster General Payne yester
day ad Iressed letters to ex-Postmaster
Charles Emory Smith, Fourth As
sistant Postmaster GeneraUBristow,
Postmaster Merlitt of Washington,
and Comptroller Tracewell of th a
treasury, calling attention to a pufr
lished interview with S. W. Tulloch.
lor many years, until three years ago,
cashier of the Washington postofflce.
In the interview Mr. Tulloch makes
serious charges. He i3 quoted as say
ing: "I was cashier of the Washington
city postofflce for more than twenty
one years, and was considered one of
the experts in the service. I served
during the celebrated Star Route in
vestigation and trial, consequently,
when the irregularities, with which I
am personally familiar, took place, I
protested, and very vigorously, and
eemanded everything In writing for
my own protection and that of my
bondsmen. I became what First As
sistant Postmaster General Perry S.
Heath , called an 'obstacle. Mr. Mer
rltt, then temporarily residing In this
city as an official of the postofflce de
partment, was appointed as our local
postmaster, and he very summarily
removed 'the obstacle' in less than
five minutes after taking possession
of the office." -
And this from the New York Amer
ican: '
FAYNE WILL BE FORCED OUT OF
CABINET.
Senator Lodge Declares the White
wash of Machen Will' Result in
the President Ousting Post
master General.
Washington, May 1 Postmaster
General Payne iz likely to be forced
out of the cabineC
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, cne of
the president's personal friends, waxed .
wroth tonight on learning that Post
master General Payne had defended
Mr. Machen, superintendent of free
delivery. . He intimated strongly that
Mr. Machen's discharge had been or
dered by the president before his de
parture, and that unless that was an
accomplished fact before his Teturn
there would be trouble, and the post
master general might be. asked to re
sign. Fourteen months" ago, in an article
entitled "Five Thousand Dollars for
an Entry," I wrote:
"Hence, when I was 'tipped' that
Mr. Harrison J. Barrett, a young law
yer of Baltimore, was great on poat
office business I did not hesitate a mo
ment in inquiring what it would cost
to get his services. I knew that Mr.
Barrett was a nephew of the assistant
attorney general of the postoffic-?,
James N. Tyner, and that he had late
ly been his assistant in that office. He
resigned about a year ago. In fact,
bis resignation proved to have oc
curred at a most fortunate time, for
Mr. Madden soon after began his cru
sade, and this gave Mr. Barrett a
chance to gain distinction and cash
.that seldom befalls so young a man in
so short a time."
I also published the letter I re
ceived from Mr. Barrett in reply to
my Inquiry, in which he said:
"Taking the case as presented in
the articles in the copies of the pub
lication, the reason for its rejection i
second-class matter seems to, be thai
It Is a publication 'designed primarili