EDITORIALS
Mr. STEPHENSON'S CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS BECAUSE personal controversy is a means often employed to obscure important issues, I have never been drawn into such controversy, and never intend to be. It...
...Morgan's or Mr...
...The Lancet, in pointing out the fact that persons of gloomy or worrying dispositions had better not play golf, has taken a plunge right into the center of American presidential politics...
...Only one such replica was authorized...
...It has been misrepresented by the reactionary press everywhere as was to be expected...
...In other words, the franchise is valuable because it enables the corporation to charge for its services...
...Knowing that the manufacturer is the first to derive the benefit of protection by raising prices of his goods, they make his protection conditional upon the payment of a recognized fair wage to his workmen...
...His contributions were, I supposed, freely given and were so accepted and appreciated...
...By a recent decision of the High Court of the Australian Commonwealth the law has been declared unconstitutional...
...La Follette's presidential campaign, declined the alluring suggestion that he might be a 'maker of Presidents' as was Mark Hanna...
...Stephenson state fully and specifically the exact amount contributed to each of my personal campaigns, either to me or to anyone authorized to receive such contributions...
...Under this decision, the way seems open for the people to throw off the unjust burden which the "frenzied finance" of Wall Street has laid upon them...
...I do not recognize money invested in Mr...
...The men opposing his present election are defending the primary, just as the man who stands between the office of governor and the man who is accused of buying it is defending popular elections of governors...
...The Supreme Court says that the rates must be sufficient to pay a reasonable return on the "property devoted to the public use...
...Would the Independent have fallen into the error of saying that an attack on his right to the office under the circumstances was an attack on the law providing for the popular election of governors...
...If its rates are cut down to a charge which will yield a reasonable return only on the physical plant, its franchise will be worth less, or even become valueless...
...To be sure, the court allowed nearly $8,000,000 for the value of the franchise of six old gas companies consolidated in 1884...
...Otherwise, they would not have voted for the election of a man in his seventy-ninth year, and he could not have been elected for the short term...
...It is because of these charges that the legislature refuses to elect him...
...He is no friend of the primary who passes over charges of the corrupt use of money for the purpose of debauching the primary...
...If this magazine should under such circumstances, have said: "In New York the authorities have repudiated the direct election of governors, and the Independent, a former advocate of such elections, leads the repudiation," would not the Independent, careful of its statements, have called the publication an inexcusable misstatement...
...It was through his efforts that permission was secured to place the full-sized replica of the Weinman statue of Lincoln on the campus of the University of Wisconsin...
...With the large displacement of American labor by immigrants accustomed to a lower standard of life, the protective tariff has failed to protect American labor against the competition of the former, while enabling the manufacturers to raise prices of necessaries which the American workman requires as a consumer...
...If the charges in this instance are not proven, every Republican member of the legislature is bound to vote for Mr...
...Pittsburg and Chicago, take notice...
...New York has a corrupt-practices act...
...As for good-will, the Supreme Court says that the good-will of a corporation with a monopoly is of no value at all...
...Stephenson and I served together in Congress twenty-five years ago, his sturdy pioneer character won my personal regard...
...The employers finally determined to test the constitutionality of the law...
...Jones' services are deserving of lasting recognition...
...The Commonwealth Trade Mark is, of course, issued gratis and in this way serves the purpose of insuring the benefits of the protective duty to labor as well as to capital...
...Jones was enabled to carry out his desire to see the figure of "the world's greatest democrat" placed where it would be a daily inspiration to the students of his alma mater...
...Hon...
...In one case the Excise Tariff Court found that a firm was paying its common laborers $1.46 per day where it should have paid $1.70 according to the recognized standards, and the firm was given the choice of paying $150,000 of back taxes, or raising the wages of its men...
...Stephenson's paper editorially says, "Mr...
...I had assured my friends in the legislature that his promise under no circumstances to be a candidate for the six-year term, could be absolutely relied upon...
...Evidently, disqualifying charges when formally made, should be investigated before electing the candidate...
...We shall have more to say on this point in subsequent issues of this paper...
...The "New Protection" in Australia AS far back as 1840, the slogan of "protection to home labor" against the competition of "the pauper labor of Europe" has served as the strongest argument with the large body of American voters in favor of the protective tariff policy...
...but that was because the Legislature of New York had itself put that value on them then, and allowed stock to be issued for them...
...Wisconsin has a corrupt-practices act which Senator Stephenson is charged by a state senator, on the floor of the legislature, with having violated...
...They were performed, unselfishly and joyfully, for the benefit of coming generations of young men and women...
...A. W. Sanborn, State Senate, Madison, Wisconsin...
...The editorial which impliedly ranks Governor Hughes as a Populist probably needs no answer...
...So strong, however, is the influence of the Labor Party in Australian politics that following upon the heels of the decision the Federal Premier set out to take the necessary steps to amend the constitution of the Commonwealth to enable the government to carry out the "new protection" policy...
...But it is not "going down...
...Later, when he broke with Payne and Spooner and allied himself with the Progressives, I believed it was from conviction...
...Stephenson, however, became a candidate to succeed himself, and secured a plurality of the votes at the primary...
...Sensational Madison dispatch published here today says that my friends "will vote against proposed investigation of Mr...
...I did so because I believed he was right on all of the great public questions, and because I believed his legislative experience and business insight equipped him to serve out acceptably the unexpired term...
...Chanler had been returned for the office of governor last fall, and, before he received his certificate of election, charges of corrupt use of money had been filed against him...
...When it errs, no power but its own can rectify its error...
...Even the Roosevelt administration has adopted the Octopus type of submarine...
...It decides that a reasonable return in New York City for a gas plant is six per cent...
...Harriman's railroads, because in most cases, they cannot ship by any other...
...As Mr...
...It is only because my position in regard to the investigation of the alleged wrongful use of money in the senatorial contest in Wisconsin is being used to destroy confidence in the primary election principle, throughout the country, that I feel bound to notice certain misleading statements which I should otherwise ignore...
...But this case is likely ultimately to affect the price of corn and wheat and land and coal in the Mississippi Valley, and the fare for passengers on street railways in all cities, as well as the price of tickets to the next town...
...It was against my expressed wish that Mr...
...The "new protection" has not been welcomed as an unmixed blessing by the manufacturers...
...It deals with a gas company in New York, but the same rules must apply to railways, electric light and power companies, telephone companies, street car and trolley-line companies, and all public service corporations everywhere...
...So shippers will resort to Mr...
...Both statutes must be construed together...
...Hence, it is important to you...
...on the physical valuation, with nothing in the ordinary case for good-will and franchises, there seems to be no reason why the United States or every state in the union should not cut down railway rates to the point where they will pay only a reasonable return on the physical valuation of the railways...
...Providence, Philadelphia, Champaign, St...
...Hughes or Mr...
...So that franchises cannot be reckoned as property upon which the public is bound to pay interest...
...It is important because it lays down the law as to the right of the public to regulate the income of public utility corporations...
...This stamp is called the Commonwealth Trade Mark and its presence testifies to the fact that the employer is paying fair rates of wages and is observing all other conditions as to hours of labor, sanitary requirements, etc...
...Stephenson...
...But he was charged with having violated the statute prohibiting corrupt practices in elections...
...If the tariff is to have the inevitable effect of raising the prices of everything the workman requires as a consumer, while it fails to protect his wages from "the competition of the pauper labor of Europe," so industriously substituted for his own by the employer, it is clear that it will be only a matter of time before it will lose its former hold on the American workman...
...For this reason I sent the following telegram: Washington, D. C., February 9, 1909...
...Wichita, Kansas, and Anthony, Kansas, both voted overwhelmingly on February 2, to adopt the "commission" form of government...
...Moreover, it serves in Australia the double purpose which is aimed at in this country by the trade union label and that of the Consumers' League...
...They were at no time excessive in comparison with the contributions in time, in money, and in sacrifice of business interests, made by many disinterested men in the long struggle to restore government to the people in Wisconsin...
...The committee, in charge, however, considered it proper to make the same request of him, and to give him the same opportunity to contribute, which they gave to others, believed to be interested...
...It is going up to a higher purer democracy...
...Stephenson, although contributing to Mr...
...If for any reason," says the Journal, "this (our present) form of government should become unpopular, and a majority of the electors should wish to change it, then it would be the duty of the Republican party to stand by its colors and go down, regardless of consequences...
...Good-will, therefore, has no value on which the public can be forced to pay interest...
...The ordinary farmer or merchant who reads this is not likely to think a decision by a court in Washington, about the rate to be charged for gas in New York, of much importance to him...
...Repudiating" the Primary THE senatorial situations in Illinois and Wisconsin have afforded pretext for much misrepresentation of the primary...
...In Wisconsin, the situation is vastly different...
...The legislature of Illinois has split up into factions and refuses, at this writing, either to re-elect Senator Hopkins or to choose another in his place...
...A Great Decision by Our Greatest Court WHEN the Supreme Court of the United States speaks, the last word is usually regarded as having been said...
...A franchise to charge higher rates for no service at all would be extremely valuable...
...In Australia they are not satisfied to leave to blind economic forces the working out of the respective shares of protection which are to fall to the lot of employer and employee...
...Yet, singularly enough, so far as organized labor voiced its sentiments in the last presidential campaign, it seemed utterly indifferent to the tariff issue...
...Stephenson became a candidate for the unexpired term, I supported him notwithstanding his advanced years...
...Neither is he a friend of representative government, who overlooks similar charges with respect to popular elections...
...If it is allowed to charge exorbitantly its franchise will be very valuable...
...When Mr...
...A dispatch published in Washington February twelfth states that Mr...
...The Corrupt Practices Act applies to primary elections as well as to general elections...
...Good-will is of value to a merchant, because he has competition, and his customers are likely to return to his store rather than go to his rival's...
...But," says the Supreme Court, discussing the gas case, "He will resort to the 'old stand' (for gas) because he cannot get gas anywhere else...
...It has rendered several very important decisions, lately, but most important of all, perhaps is the ruling in the case of Willcox vs...
...But it will seem to men who are alive to the demands of this time for progress that if the "colors" by which the Journal exhorts it to stand represent the toryism involved in a denial of pure popular government, then indeed it "has no reason for its existence," and the sooner it "goes down" the sooner will the way be made plain for a better party,—one which will guide its counsels by the democratic philosophy of our greatest Republican, Abraham Lincoln, rather than by that of the royalist in Republican's clothing, Alexander Hamilton...
...A Word of Appreciation WISCONSIN owes a debt of gratitude to Richard Lloyd Jones of Collier's...
...Thomas E. Brittingham of Madison, however, Mr...
...Cities vied with each other for the honor of securing it...
...and on the same day Pueblo, Colorado, decided to make application to the state legislature for a similar charter...
...The feeling that he has been instrumental in placing an influence for civic righteousness in the midst of these young people may be his best reward...
...John Hicks, Ambassador to Chili, wished to present it to Oshkosh...
...The "Duty of the Republican Party" THE Albany Journal views with terror the proposal of Governor Hughes for direct primaries...
...Stephenson, then identified with the old political machine, used his money and influence for six years against the reform movement, but that did not affect our personal relations...
...The proposed amendment of the constitution is to clothe Parliament with the authority to regulate employment and wages of labor in industries protected under the Commonwealth tariff...
...I should be glad to have Mr...
...Every Republican vote in the legislature of Wisconsin will, there can be not the slightest doubt, be cast for Senator Stephenson as soon as he shall be cleared of the charges against him...
...Indeed, no other single factor could be found to account for the firm hold of the Republican party upon the labor vote of the country...
...Every employer must attach the internal revenue stamp to his goods, unless he can prove to the specially constituted Federal Court, that he is paying a fair wage to his employees...
...In the latter case he is given a special stamp which must be attached to his goods instead of the excise stamp...
...There is the roadbed, the rolling-stock, the gas factory, the mains, or whatever it may be, and there is also the franchise, the good-will, and the business we have built up...
...When Senator Spooner unexpectedly resigned, and Mr...
...The Journal says that unless the Republican party stands firmly against such ideas, it has no reason for its existence...
...The legislature of Wisconsin has not repudiated the primary in any sense...
...These latter things are property, as well as the physical plant, and entitled to interest...
...The Independent ought to know better than this...
...Stephenson" because of "covert threat that Stephenson proposed to tell how he had spent money" in my behalf in former campaigns...
...The enforcement of corrupt-practices acts is necessary to pure elections...
...Stephenson's newspaper as contributions to my personal campaigns...
...Robert M. La Follette...
...When the contest came on in Wisconsin a decade later, Mr...
...If we may believe the Journal, the caucus and convention system is all that stands between the Republican party and "Populism," including in that term direct legislation as well as direct nominations...
...Indeed, this may serve to explain the apparent indifference of organized labor to the question of protection which no thoughtful observer could fail to notice in the last campaign...
...The Independent, for example, says editorially: "In Wisconsin the legislature repudiates the direct nomination, and Senator La Follette, father of the plan, leads the repudiation...
...Wisconsin stands by and defends the direct nomination of United States senators...
...So this decision seems to hold out hope of relief from the extortions of railways as well as of gas companies...
...It is the Olympus of our institutions where are framed the decrees to which congresses, legislatures, executives, armies, and navies bow in submission...
...Let no threat deter any friend of mine from supporting the resolution to investigate charges of violation of law in connection with the senatorial primary...
...But well-informed journals should not be deceived by such a press...
...If the state or city of New York can legally cut down returns on gas concerns to six per cent...
...The influence of 26 Broadway is all-pervasive...
...The water in the stock is not "property devoted to the public use...
...Consolidated Gas Company, ordinarily known as "the 80-cent Gas Case...
...Some ordinarily fair and reliable magazines, however, have allowed themselves to be deceived...
...But," says the public utility corporation, "our property is of two kinds, at least...
...In the mist and fog of crooked and misleading statements, a magazine like the Independent may be excused for falling into such an error, but not for allowing the false assertion to go uncorrected...
...Stephenson was asked to contribute to my presidential campaign expenses, as I thought if he wished to give, he would do so without solicitation...
...Through the patriotic generosity of Mr...
...This is achieved by the simple device of an internal excise duty on every protected article...
...Suppose that either Mr...
...Not only to the Union Mining Company, but to the nation, she cries out: "Thou shalt not half kill.—Charles M. S. McLel-lan, in "The Strong People...
...The penalty for certain violations of the Corrupt Practices Act is disqualification to hold the office...
...Whenever a state or city attempts to lower the rates charged by any of these companies, they usually hasten to the courts with the plea that the rates sought to be established amount to the confiscation of their property, and secure an injunction against the enforcement of the law, the ordinance, or the order, as the case may be...
...Such a condition could scarcely be found in the ordinary case...
...The issue is not drawn on primary elections, or direct nominations, but on corrupt practices...
...He aided the cause by his contributions to campaign expenses, and advanced it by establishing a newspaper in support of the principles for which the progressive element in the party was contending...
...The excise duty is equal to one-half of the import duty...
...Louis, and Seattle requested it...
...When it formulates a rule of property that runs into the bases of every man's affairs, its deliverance is of the utmost importance...
...But the Supreme Court says that, while the franchise is property, it is property the value of which may be taken away by the public by rate-lowering...
...In the light of what has just been said, the policy of "new protection" now being evolved by our progressive cousins in the Antipodes deserves special attention...
...I could not have supported him as a candidate for the six-year term, even though his record of service during the short term had been perfectly consistent...
...This nominated him under the law...
...It is confidently expected in Australia that the constitution will be amended in the near future with that end in view...
...Hopkins received a majority in the primaries, the Republicans in the legislature may or may not be guilty of "repudiating" the primary...
Vol. 1 • February 1909 • No. 7
