SI
&6 Nebraska. Indopondont
PAGE 8
APRIL 5 1906
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDEN1
-.- - ESTABLISHED 1889
J. M. DEVINE, Edtor
FREDERIC O. BERGE, Business Mgr
Published Every Thursday
1328 O Street -Lincoln,
Nebraska
Entered at the postofllce at Lincoln,
Nebraska, as' second-class mail matter,
under the act of Congress of March 3, 1879.
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THE INDEPENDENT,
Lincoln, Neb.
ROOSEVELT SURRENDERS
Roosevelt surrenders. He consents
that ihe rate bill be amended to meet
the demands of the railroads, lie
could stand the pressure no longer.
He was not big enough for the job
he had undertaken. Aldrich's confi
dence in the outcome is vindicated.
Knox made the argument, and the
cabinet and railroad senators took ad
vantage of the spell created by the
able and wily Pennsylvanian to renew
their pressure upon the president, in
- the name of party, and Jo, the sup
posed man of iron, in the White House
turned out to be only a man of straw.
The president was hedged about
and beaten on all tacks by congress
simply because he lacked the capacity
to appreciate and utilize the power he
possessed. If he had the nerve of a
Cleveland he could have won, hands
down. He had the people of all
parties at his back and only needed
to stand firm when the politicians
must come to him.
But he has kept bad company. He
surrounded himself with corporation
attorneys. Every member of his po
litical household are opposed to his
avowed railroad policy, a suspicious
circumstance.
Was he sincere in his efforts to re
lieve the people from railroad extor
tion, or was he merely making 'a
. grandstand play before the country?
His great popularity was earned in
a day. It resulted from his order to
his attorney general to dissolve the
Northern Securities company. He
took the side of the people upon a vital
question that was comprehended by
all. They understand the railroad
question now better than they did
then, and cannot be trifled with. Does
he not know that the public never
gives a public official a second chance
to retrieve himself? Great popular-
, ity once . acquired and then , forfeited
is lost forever.
Bryan is strong because he has kept
the faith. The most, critical day in
his career was when the Kansas City
convention was demanding of him a
modified expression of former views.
Had they succeeded in extorting from
him the least concession in the way of
a modification of his former position,
his star would then and there have
set, never to rise again. He would
have forfeited the confidence reposed
in him by the public and all would
have been over. '
Roosevelt's life and writings are
full of inconsistence and contradic
tions, but notwithstanding these the
people believed him to be honest, man
ly and courageous. And when he
threw down the gauntlet to The con
federated monopolies they gave him
full measure of their confidence and
their support. Many found it diffi
cult to reconcile his spectacular and
boastful performances and coarse
manners, with that sturdiness of char
acter and expansion of soul that lift
men above their fellows, but all gave
him the benefit of the doubt, and hi.5
popularity soared mountains high and
with it the expectations of a trusting
people. -
"How great the fall!" The people
were mistaken. Millions of his fellow
countrymen, whose hearts thrilled
with pride and hope at every mention
of the name of Roosevelt now with
heavy hearts turn from him.
MOCKERY OF THE LAW
The arrest of 0. W. Perkins in New
York last week charged with the lar
ceny of $48,000 from the New York
Life Insurance company, suggests
food for reection for all men who
value freedom and desire to perpetu
ate our free " institutions. The as
tounding attitude of District- At (or
ney Jerome before Justice 'O'Sulli-
van's court, with reference to crim
inals who looted the insurance treas
uries to promote the success of a
political party, a couple of days pre
vious to the arrest of Perkins, shocked
the sensibilities - of all whose con
sciences are not sered by familiarity
with, and participation - in crimfc
against the public weal, ...
The little concern displayed by Mr.
Perkins when placed under arrest for
so grave an offense was an exhibi
tion of moral turpitude resultant from
association with men accustomed to
disregard alike the moral and statute
laws when either stand between them
and the accomplishments of desired
ends. The cool demeanor of Mr. Per
kins is accounted for by his knowl
edge that the entire board of trustees
of the New York Life Insurance com
pany shared with him the crime com
mitted against the policyholders of
his company whom he plundered, and
against the electorate of the United
States whose verdict was sought to
be influenced by the use of the money,
and by the further, knowledge that the
officers of the other two great life in
surance companies were guilty of sim
ilar crimes.
The conduct of District Attorney
Jerome in seeking to shield men from
the consequences of high crimes, be
cause they are rich and powerful,
calls down upon him the condemna
tion of all honest men. The farcical
prosecution of Mr Perkins by the dis
trict attorney, under the circum
stances, is a further exhibition of the
moral obliquity of that individual.
The district altorney, who has been
adyertised as a man possessed of
many virtues, has disappointed the
public by his steadfast refusal to pro
ceed against the big insurance thieves,
ever since-, their crimes were made
public by the Armstrong legislative
committee, but they were shocked
when the representative of the state
wrought himself into a frenzy in Jus
tice O'Sullivan's court room in his
efforts to persuade the court and the
grand jury that the acts committed,
while admittedly illegal did not con
stitute a crime.
The claim that" officers of a life in
surance company can . use the money
held in trust for their policyholders
to advance the fortunes of a political
party, and then by false book entries
disguise the uses to which the moneys
were put, and in so doing commit no
crime, is to ask mankind to repudiate
and abolish the command "Thou shalt
not steal."
The conduct of District ' Attorney
Jerome in dealing with the rich and
powerful thieves of life insurance is
calculated to loosen the bands and
rivets that hold together, civil so
ciety. His present position as prose
cutor of Mr. Perkins ' under" the cir
cumstances, shows him to be a man
possessed of monumental gall en
closed in a rhinoseros hide, and utter
ly insensible to the morality and de
cency of the age in which he lives.
Why does he insist upon conduct
ing a case which his past conduct
disqualifies him "to prosecute in good
faith? Is he so obtuse as to think
any julge, jury or citizen will con
sider him sincere in the undertaking?
Such conduct is mockery of the laws,
and an insult to public decency. If
Mr. Jerome is not utterly lost to all
sense of self respect he will harken
to the demands of decency and pro
priety and will turn the prosecution of
Mr. Perkins over to some reputable
attorney that the case may be. tried
upon its merits.
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
The startling revelation that the
most sacred pecuniary trust that civ
ilization has so far evolved, namely,
the custody of life insurance funds,
has been violated, and the money rep
resenting the toil and sacrifice of mil
lions of our people to provide against
adversity and old age, and to sustain
widows and orphans, stolen and given
to campaign committees to influence
elections, suggests to the thoughtful
the danger that lurks in the use of
large sums of money by campaign
committees.
In the first place, a large campaign
fund is not necessary for the con
duct of an honest election, in either
state or nation. And if a proper ac
counting w'ere made of the uses to
which large campaign funds have
been put, it would be made plain that
much of it was used for purposes
that were immoral and hostile to good
government. The legitimate expenses
of campaign committees call for only
moderate sums of money.
The right of individuals to contrib
ute money to such committees is not
disputed. But a corporation does not
stand on the same footing as an in
dividual in this respect. A corpora
tion actively engaged in politcs' is
neither more nor less than a conspir
acy against the public. A corpora
tion is a legal entity, for certain spe
cific purposes, composed of a limited
number of individuals who have put
a portion of their means into a com
mon pool, enjoying certain privileges
and immunities conferred upon it by
law. The objects of corporations are
in most cases selfish, looking to the
enrichment of the owners of its
stocks. It owes its existence to a priv
ilege granted by the people. It is
possessed of no sovereign rights, and
when it undertakes to influence elec
tions such act is revolutionary in its
nature. Contributions to campaign
committees by ' corporations are clear
ly against pubjic policy and illegal. '
The enormous ; capital required to
utilize science and invention in indus
try accounts for the vast aggregations '
of wealth operating under franchises
from the states and the nation. The
total capital thus employed repre- -?.'
sents a large percentage of the total
wealth of the nation. This vast wealth
is organized and in control of all the
highly profitable avenues of produc- '
tion and distribution. 'Through con
solidations, and otherwise, competi
tion has been illuminated in many de-r
partments of industry, and the vast
interests" controlling them are now '
confederated to further their own sel
fish ends.
That corporations dominate the pol
itics of state and nation is known of
all men. They have held both po
litical parties by the throat and ex
acted and received, with a few notable
exceptions, abject submission to their
will from public officials regardless
of party for many. years.; The names
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THE INDEPENDENT,
Lincoln, Neb.
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