Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1909 — THE MILLIONS NOT HEARD [ARTICLE]

THE MILLIONS NOT HEARD

The Beef Trust not only fixes the prices of our meats, eggs, fruits and vegetables, but it (proposes to control the price of our shoes. The duty on hides benefits it and nobody else.

The Hon.. Charles Berry Landis, late congressman, from the Ninth District, has not yet landed another office. Perhaps he now realties as never before that his famous utterance about ‘'all sorts of jobs for all sorts of hien" in" the Republican state convention of 1 906 may admit of numerous exceptions. Just now Mr. Landis is only one of the millions of unemployed.

The legislature of 1907 passed a law providing tor the reorganisation of the state railroad commission, but Governor Hanly did not carry it out. But it is different with Governor Marshall. He proposes to act under the new Law and even his predecessor's appointees on the commission have conceded that ills view of the law is correct and the commission is now in process of reorganization. With the exception of one commissioner the entire working force has been Republican. This will be changed and Democrats will be given a chance .at some of the places at the disposal of the commission.

So tar the Democrats in the senate have taken only a small part in the tariff debates. They doubtless considered that while the Republicans were figthing among themselves it was good policy not to interfere. Some Democratic senators have made speeches, however. One or two of these might as well have been tirade by Republicans, as they did not represent real Democratic position. The Democratic’ party is either ay tariff for-revenue-only party or if is nothing so far as the tariff iJ concerned. Any Democratic senator or representative who does not understand this has no business in congress—at least, not as a Democrat.

Senator Burkett of Nebraska, a Republican, during the tariff debate last week, as told in a Washington dispatch “repeated the . statement frequently made before that the interests of the consumers of the country had been ignored in the preparation of the bill, and it was about time for them to be shown at least the same consideration that had been given to the manufactur-

ers and corporations.” Thereupon Senator Aldrich, general Republican boss and ehairman of the committee that had the tariff bill in charge, declared that most of the people who had been heard by the committee ‘‘urged increases in duties,” and he ‘‘regarded this as reflecting the general sentiment of the country.” This statement is both bold and impudent. The people heard by Aldrich were the men and corporations who, under the tariff law, are allowed to tax all others for their own private benefit and of.

course they wanted duties Increased. None of the millions of consumers tvere heard, but according to Aldrich (and he will pass his bill) the “general sentiment of the country” is not created by them but by the protected industries, the trusts and other benefltted corporations. The men who control the Republican party do not care anything about the real general sentiment of the country.

Dispatches from London say that Whitelaw Reid, the American ambassador, intends to go out of office in a “blaze of glory.” This is taken to mean a vulgar display of money in dinners, balls and other entertainments for the delectation of all the available “royality” and “nobility.”. It is also said that Edward White, American ambassador at Paris, wants to succeed Reid at London. White is practically an expatriate. He has been absent from the United States -so long that we are foreign people to him. In recent years this country has suffered much at the hands of its European ambassadors. All self-respecting Americans have felt shamed by the silly and un-American conduct of their country’s “representatives.” Will President Taft try to reform the diplomatic department? If not, it should be abolished until the right sort of a man gets into the White House.