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1 Commoner Comment I
Extracts From W J Bryans Paper 4
PERHAPS
Justice Brown would be happier if
lie had contented himself with a de
cision without attempting to give any
reasons for it There are many vul
nerable passages in the decision which
he delivered but there is one passage
Which shows the uncertainty produced
by the courts decision Heretofore
the people have regarded liberty as an
inalincable right and freedom of
speech and freedom of the press have
been considered absolutely necessary
to its defense Those who prize liberty
and regard freedom of speech as above
price will not take kindly to the word
perhaps usedby Justice Brown in
discussing the subject He said
To sustain tde judgment in the case
under consideration it by no means be
comes necessary to show that none of
the articles of the constitution applies
to the island of Porto Rico There is
a clear distinction between such prohi
bitions as go to the very root of the
power of congress to act at all irre
spective of time or place and such as
are operative throughout the United
States or among the several states
Thus when the constitution de
clares that no bill of attainder or ex
post facto law shall be passed and
that no title of nobility shall be
granted by the United States it goes
to the competency of congress to pass
a bill of that description Perhaps
the same remark may apply to the first
amendment that congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of
religion or prohibiting the free exer
cise thereof or abridging the freedom
of speech or of the press or the right
of people to peacefully assemble and
to petition the government for a redress
of grievances We do not wish how
ever to be understood as expressing an
opinion how far the bill of rights con
tained in the first eight amendments
is of general and how far of the local
application
He is not willing to go at once to the
full extent of his logic He seems to
have faith in congress he does not
doubt that it will deal fairly with sub
ject races and yet he shrinks from the
thought of annihilating at one blow
the whole bill of rights He boldly
declares that there is a clear distinc
tion between such prohibitions as go
to the very root of the power of con
gress to act at all irrespective of time
or place and such as are operative on
ly throughout the United States or
among the several states not merely
a distinction but a clear distinction
And yet he becomes perplexed as soon
as he begins to draw the clear dis
tinction He is quite sure that congress
is entirely prohibited from passing a
bill of attainder or ex post facto law
or from granting a title of nobility
He thinks that perhaps the same re
mark may apply to laws prohibiting
free speech to laws abridging the
freedom of the press and limiting the
right of the people to peaceably as
semble and petition or redress
Perhaps Perhaps PERHAPS
How soon he becomes entangled in his
own web And this is constitutional
law Justice Brown wants it distinct
ly understood that the court is not at
this time expressing an opinion how
far the bill of rights contained in the
first eight amendments is of general
and how far of local application It
will be interesting to American patriots
to learn that rights for more than a
century considered inalienable are now
divided into general rights and
local rights that some belong to
everyone while others belong only to
some and that the some who enjoy all
rights are to decide what rights are
safe in the keeping of others The
Boston Herald very properly says that
imperialism does not consist in hav
ing an emperor but in governing a
country on the well established basis
that all men are not free and equal
It is not the form but the essence
which controls it is not the name
emperor that is hateful The Herald
adds
It does not matter whether the
form of rule is that of the czar or that
of an imperial parliament which rules
over subject people in the name of a
conquering and governing nation
The government of England is just as
imperialistic as the government of
Russia The inhabitants of Somali
Coast Protectorate an English colony
have no more political rights accorded
to them by the British parliament re
presenting the English people than
the czar accords to the inhabitants of
the Crimea The government of Eng
land is imperial because while arrogat
ing to themselves the right to do what
they please the English people control
the industrial and political existence of
hundreds of millions of people and
Bettle these in such manner as they see
fit The government of the czar is
imperialistic because while arrogating
to himself the right to do as he pleases
the czar dictates the political and in
dustrial development of scores of mil
lions of people But in each instance
there is a denial of the democratic
theory of government that the people
of a country have a right to regulate
their own affairs
The decisions of the Supreme Court
in the Downes case places the inhabit
ants of Porto Rico at the mercy of con
gress and the executive There is not
a vital right that they can claim as
theirs They must bow before the
Clear the track for conquering Uncle
Sam Consent of the governed is a
myth taxation without representation
has become a vested right and a re
public may have citizens subjects and
slaves When the constitution threat
ens to curtail the privileges of exploit
ers and adventurers it must be kept at
home Truly we have progressed
during the past three or four years
Democrats will not be slow to note
that the administration organs and
leaders are unanimous in their support
of McLauric
c r l - vrf
American ilag they must swear al
legiance to it they must follow where
it leads their property and their lives
may be demanded for its maintenance
and defense and yet -what is there in
that flag which represents right or
hope for them Heretofore a territory
has looked forward to the time and
condition of statehood its embarass
ments have been considered tempo
rary and during its period of waiting
its people have been protected in the
enjoyment of all the rights guaranteed
to citizens by the constitution If its
delegate in -congress has had no vote
its people have been reasonably safe
from harm because the general laws
made for the territories were also oper
ative in the states Now comes a new
order of things the nation has caught
the spirit of conquest it has stained
its hands with the blood of subject
races The people of Porto Rico are
notified that they are to be with us
but not of us They are to have neith
er our government nor their own
government but such a government as
we think good enough for them We
shall buy of them what we please upon
our own terms we shall make their
laws for them we shall tax them we
shall govern them and if they dare to
quote our declaration of independence
against us we shall shoot them Per
haps we shall allow them freedom of
religion five judges in a court of nine
speaking for us say that we are not
sure about this Perhaps we may
allow them freedom of speech the
question is not settledperhaps their
newspapers may be allowed to criticize
carpet bag officials but it is not yet
determined whether this is a general
right to be enjoyed by the Porto Ricans
or a local one to be enjoyed only by
the people of the United States Per
haps they may be allowed to peace
ably assemble this is a matter for fu
ture consideration perhaps they
will be permitted to petition for re
dress of grievances we shsll see about
this later
The Porto Ricans had heard of our
revolutionary war they had read our
state papers they had been inspired by
our patriotic songs and so when Gen
eral Miles landed upon the island the
people of Porto Rico met him with
music and spread flowers in his path
Theirs is a rude awakening While
they dreamed of American liberty the
Republican leaders were calculating
the trade value of eight hundred thou
sand Porto Ricans
Perhaps Justice Browns opinion
will convince the rank and file of the
republican party that our institu
tions are in danger and that the re
publican party should be repudiated
If liberty becomes a perhaps in Por
to Rico how long will it be a certainty
in the United States
Some of the republican papers take
exceptions to the statement in last
weeks Commoner to the effect that the
decision in the Downes case made the
president an emperor They contend
that the arbitrary and absolute power
conferred by the court is to be exer
cised by congress but they forgot that
the president must join congress in
making laws for the nations subjects
As the colonial system increaises the
President will becom c xoore and move
powerful factor in legislation Undr
the late decision the president is an
emperor the chief executive of an em
pire Outside of the states he is not
bound by the constitution and can ex
ercise whatever power he can persuade
congress to grant
The gold democrats seem anxious to
find a presidential candidate who is
not tainted with the silver heresyand
insist that that was their main objec
tion to the ticket nominated in 1896
and in 1900
Why do they not urge the nomina
tion of Justice Harlan Of course Mr
Harlan is not a democrat but that ob
jection ought not to weigh with the
gold democrats who voted for Mr Mc
Kinley Mr Harlan has not only
placed himself on record against im
perialism but he also wrote a dissent
ing opinion in the income tax case and
opposed the position taken by the su
preme court in the sugar trust case
He has a splendid record on three
prominent questions but this the very
reason why the gold democrats would
objoct to him They prefer a demo
GiaL who endorses republican policies
t a republican who supports demo
cratic policies
We want to make the people of dis
tant lands familiar with our products
says President McKinley This is an
other sample of protection logic The
protectionist says Give us protection
against the foreigners because we can
not compete with them while we can
not undersell the foreigner in our own
market we can undersell him in hia
own The strange part of this logio
is that so many people accept it as
correct
Violation of plain duty is perfectly
constitutional
Some of the republican newspa
pers suggest that democratic editors
should apologize to Judge Harlau for
the criticism made against the appoint
ment of his son Not at all but the
republican editors ought to condole
with the president because the ap
pointment of Justice Harlans son did
not have any effect on the father
The American people should bear in
mind the extraordinary powers con
ferred upon congress by the supreme
court and be more careful in the elec
tion of congressmen
A-
5
V
- e - - t
FACTS ABOUT THE COUNTIES
I the Shortest Name Custer Ceauty
3Xont tho Biggest in Area
Some peculiar facts are being brought
out by the twelfth census concerning
the counties says the New York Sun
For instance the shortest name of a
county is I in Oklahoma while the
longest is Saint John the Baptist a
parish in Louisiana Nebraska had a
county named LEau qui Court but the
people had it changed to plain Knox
in 1873 since which time it has grown
from 78 to 14343 Vernon county
Wisconsin was formerly known as Bad
Axe Minnesota once named a county
Toombs then changed it to Andy
Johnson and now it appears as Wil
kins North Dakota boasted a county
called Gin Grass but it was changed
to Wells Twenty six states have hon
ored Washington with a county bear
ing his name twenty one states have
a Jefferson and a Jackson county Lin
coln appears in sixteen states Mon
tana has the county with the largest
area Custer which covers 20490
square miles the second largest is San
Bernardina county California with
19947 square miles Both counties are
larger than either Maryland Massa
chusetts Connecticut Delaware New
Hampshire New Jersey Rhode Island
or Vermont The smallest county is
Bristol Rhode Island which has only
twenty five square miles and Alex
andria county Virginia is next with
thirty two square miles Texas has
245 counties the largest number Del
aware has three counties and Rhode
Island five Wyoming and Arizona
have the unlucky number of thir
teen each Texas covers 265780
square miles and is not half so large
as Alaska which has 590884 square
miles Montana comes next to Texas
in size and has 146080 square miles
The District of Columbia covers the
smallest area of any division seventy
square miles There are several coun
ties lost strayed or stolen Nothing
has been heard from Mankanta county
Minnesota since 1850 when it had a
population of 1558 Wahnata county
in the same state disappeared about
the same time with a population of
two more than the other Carson
county Nevada has been missing since
I860 Among the other counties which
have disappeared are one of the Daw
son counties in Texas Cedar county
Utah and Lyons county Nebraska
THE BOER AND THE BRITON
The Former Excels as a Marksman bat
the Tatter Takes Chances
I have often been asked as to what
I thought of the relative merits of the
Boers and British as soldiers says
Adelbert S Hay United States consul
at Pretoria in Colliers Weekly My
opinion is worth very little but from
what I have seen I can form an esti
mate Of the British both men and
officers too much cannot be said The
British officer it seems to me is at
times foolishly brave That is to say
he is impressed with the necessity of
inspiring his men and showng a con
tempt for death or danger It has
often been said that this is magnifi
cent but it is not war I am not quite
sure that I agree as to that When
the man in the ranks knows that his
officer is not shirking and that he has
no fear of consequences it makes him
courageous and inspires him to do his
best The English soldier is plucky
clogged and usually contented I do
not think he has the adaptability of
the American soldier but he impresses
me very favorably The Boer of
course has the advantage over the
Britisher as I think he would have
over the soldiers of any nation in the
world of being a natural born shot
From infancy the Boer has been hunt
ing big game and has been accustomed
to the use of firearms Distances on
the veldt are extremely deceptive ow
ing to the atmospheric conditions and
it is difficult for a man not trained to
that form of outdoor life to be able to
accurately determine the range The
Boer on the other hand having al
ways led the life of a hunter with a
keenly trained eye has his adversary
at a disadvantage That explains why
in the principal engagements the loss
of life on the British side was so heavy
and the casualties among the Boers
comparatively few The British in
fantryman is probably as good a
marksman as can be found in any
other army but he is hopelessly out
classed as against the Boer
HIght of Fine Trees
According to Professor Spalding
the white pine tree seldom attains a
hight greater than 160 feet of a diam
eter of more than forty inches tree
of this variety once measured by the
division of forestry of the department
of agriculture was 170 feet tall and
forty eight inches thick The tree was
460 years old It was a little sapling
fifty years before Columbus sailed
from Palos
Militarism vs the Mosqnlto
Surgeon General Sternberg has for
mally notified his subordinates that
hereafter the existence of malaria at
any army post will prove that his pre
vious orders for the destruction of
mosquitoes have been disobeyed New
Jersey ought to be put under martial
law New York Judge
Portable Steel Houses
A New York bridge company has
taken contracts for about 100 portable
steel houses for shipment to Vene
zuela where such structures it is said
find a ready market in view of the fre
quent earthquakes These steel houses
which are one story weigh about 2f
tons each
A bill has recently been introduced
in the Minnesota legislature to pro
hibit the chewing of gum by a mem
ber while delivering a public speech
in the legislative halls of Minnesota-
r
greatist keduced bates
VIA
OMAHA ANB ST LOUIS RAIIJIOAD
Buffalo N Y on sale May 15th to Sept
SOthi
Kansas City Mo on sale Juno 7th to
11th
Detroit Mich on sale July 5th 6th and
7th
Cincinnati O on Kale July 4th 5th and
6th
Chicago 111 on sale July 23rd 24th and
25th
Louisville Ky on sale Aug 24th 25th
and 26th
Cleveland O on sale Sept 8th to 12th
Half rates to most all points south first
and third Tuesday each month Summer
tourist rates to all summer resorts now
on sale For descriptive matter regarding
the Pan American Exposition summer
t tours rates and all Information call at
O St Li City Office 1415 Farnam street
Paxtcn Hotel building or write Harry
E Moores C P T A Omaha Teb
or A J Bandy G P A Kansas City
Mo
If beauty is the first gift Nature
gives to woman it is also the first
she takes away
Lonjg Live the King The King is
Wizard Oil pain his enemies whom
he conquers
A singer must have a pretty good
compass before he ventures on high
Cs
Ask your grocer for DEFIANCE
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The crab may not be as good eating
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In addition to receiving the highest
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The shorter the ice crop is in win
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YELLOWSTONE PARK
Extended tour leisurely itinerary
with long stops in the Park Private
coaches for exclusive use on the drive
Pullman sleeping and dining care
Established limit to number going
Escort of the American Tourist Asso
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go Colorado and Alaska tours also
Tickets include ail Expenses Everywhere
Train leaves Chicago via Chicago
Milwaukee St Paul Ry Tuesday
July 9 1000 p m
The authors train of thought is
a construction train
Ask your grocer for DEFIANCE
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As there are no perfect men so
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