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PAGE FOURTEEN
BRYAN FAVORS DELAY.
Says Government Ownership is Not
Immediate Issue.
Nebraskan for Regulation—Declares
People Are Not Ready to Apply
His Radical Solution to Railway
Problem—Urges Plan for Control—
Asserts Stoppage of Rebates and
Passes, All Accomplished So Far,
Benefits Roads.
Lincoln, Neb., July 20. —William
J. Bryan today issued the following
statement:
‘‘Government ownership is not an
immediate issue. A large majority
of the people still hope for effective
regulation. While they so hope, they
will not consider government owner
ship. While many Democrats be
lieve, and Mr. Bryan is one of them,
that public ownership of railroads is
the ultimate solution of the prob
lem, still those who believe that the
public will finally, in self-defense, be
driven to ownership, recognize that
regulation must be tried under the
most favorable circumstances before
the masses will be ready to try a
more radical remedy.
“Regulation cannot be sufficiently
tried within the next year. There
is no desire anywhere to make gov
ernment ownership an issue in 1908.
Mr. Bryan fully agrees with those
who believe that it would be unwise
to turn attention from regulation, on
which the people are ready to act,
to government ownership, on which
the people are not ready to act.
Would Dodge Issues.
“To inject the government owner
ship question into the next campaign
would simply give representatives of
the railroads a chance to dodge the
issues of regulation and deceive the
public.
“So far the railroads have been
successful in preventing effective
Federal regulations, and state regu
lation has, as a rule, been restrained
by the United States courts. It is
about twenty years since the Inter
state Commerce Commission was cre
ated. It required about ten years for
the courts to find out that the pow
ers conferred were insufficient, and
then it took about ten years to pro
cure an amendment. The railroads
fought the amendment at every step
and the president was finally forced
to compromise with the railroad Re
publicans in the Senate in order to
procure their support.
Amendment Falls Short
“Even that amendment, obtained
with tremendous effort, falls short
of what it should be. It aims to
stop passes and rebates. The rail
roads profit pecuniarily by both the
stoppage of rebates and the prohi
bition of passes, but extortionate
rates still exist. State legislation for
the reduction of rates has resulted
in an agitation on the part of the
railroads for legislation which will
deprive the state of authority and
centralize all rate legislation in Con
gress.
“The Democratic party must meet
the issue presented; it must resist
the encroachments on the authority
of the states. It must insist upon the
exercise of Federal power for the
regulation of interstate commerce,
and it must insist upon the exercise
of all of the power vested in the
state. This question has grown in
importance during the past year, and
its prominence will be increased if
any attempt is made to impair state
authority. The Republican party is
as impotent to regulate the railroads
as it is to exterminate the trusts and
to reform the tariff.
Suggestions to Party.
“The Democratic party has in
three national campaigns demanded
effective railroad regulation, while
the Republican national platforms
have been silent on the subject. The
president has partly adopted the
Democratic view on this subject, but,
so far, the Republican leaders have
resolutely opposed it. The president
is helping to educate the people up
to the need of railroad regulation,
but his party, under its present lead
ership, is powerless to accomplish this
or any other important reform. If
the Democratic party will clearly and
unequivocally demand, first, the as
certaining of the value of all the rail
roads; second, the preventing of
overcapitalization, and, third, the re
duction of rates to a point where
they will yield only a reasonable re
turn on the real value of the roads, it
will commend itself not only to Dem
ocrats, but to those Republicans who
have been led to study the railroad
question. The railroad situation pre
sents a vital issue, and the issue
should be so stated that every one
can understand the party’s position.’’
FILIBUSTER WAS MOST RE
MARKABLE ON RECORD.
Men Behind it Are Brilliant Parlia
mentarians Who Labored for
Deliberate Consideration.
The filibuster against the prohi
bition bill just ended will go down
in history as one of the most effec
tive and best managed ever conduct
ed in the Georgia house of represen
tatives. It was perhaps the longest
continuous filibuster in the history
of the state, though others have ex
tended more days.
Fewer than forty members success
fully tied the hands of an over
whelming majority, and they were
tied securely, tied fairly and square
ly. In this respect, the filibuster will
be remembered as one of the most
-remarkjable ever inaugurated in a
deliberative body.
While it is true the minority re
sorted to dilatory tactics, they did
it because they believed it was their
only hope, not so much to defeat
the bill as to obtain a free, full, fair
and impartial hearing on the merits
of the measure.
Mr. Dunbar, of Richmond, was the
nominal leader of the minority. He
was selected because of his knowl
edge of parliamentary law and its
usages in the legislature. He was
the real floor manager, and to him
is due much credit for the ability
and dignity with which he handled
the minoritv.
Messrs. Adams and Barrow, of
Chatham, Mr. Blackburn, of Fulton,
Mr. Donaldson, of Decatur, Mr. Rus
sell, of Muscogee, Captain Slade, of
Muscogee, Mr. Chamlee, of Floyd,
Mr. Fowler, of Bibb, Mr. Hines, of
Baldwin, Mr. Allen, of Richmond, Mr.
Heard, of Dooly, Mr. Huff, of Lump
kin, Mr. Tift, of Dougherty, these
legislators were among the members
who ably assisted in the filibuster.
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
A majority of the minority are
young men, but every one handled
himself as a veteran. They display
ed a knowledge that was amazing
and discouraging to the overwhelm
ing majority, which had as its lead
ers manv of the oldest and best
posted members of the legislature.
Turbulent scenes, intense excite
ment, unheard of disorder and a
fist fight on the floor of the house
between members, brought to an ab
rupt close the first day’s filibuster
in the house of representatives
against the state prohibition bill.
Pandemonium reigned in the galler
ies; individual members were called
by name, hissed, hooted and jeered;
the galleries were cleared after half
an hour of repeated efforts on the
part of the sergeant at arms; the
police reserves were called, but the
frenzied crowd would not disperse;
several fights outside the capitol oc
curred, and as many more in the
corridors and rotundas were narrow
ly averted.
The prohibition bill, though pri
marily responsible for the scenes,
was forgot in the turmoil, the strife
and the near-strife that followed;
the filibuster itself was, for the mo
ment, a thing of secondary impor
tance; the attitude of the speaker
and of individual members, who were
called by name, seemed to rankle
more in the hearts of the excited
partisans.
Wright and Hall Fight.
The climax of the scenes within the
hall of the house was reached when
Representatives Seaborn Wright, of
Floyd, and Joseph H. Hall, of Bibb,
clashed in a fist fight. The mem
bers of the house, or nearly all of
them, scrambled over desks, pushed,
pulled and tussled in an effort to
reach the vortex of the storm. The
speaker was one of the few who re
tained his composure, but his con
tinued appeals for “order, order,
gentlemen, the house will be in or
der!” were as chaff before a March
wind.
And when the two distinguished
representatives dashed madly to
wards each other, dozens of strong
men went with them, and but for
the cooler heads a rough and tum
ble fight might have engaged some
forty of the representatives, who
seemed willing, though not overly
anxious, to take sides.
The cooler heads separated the bel
ligerents before serious harm had
been done, and friends of either es
corted them from the capitol a few
minutes later, when the house, by
unanimous consent, stood adjourned
until Thursday morning at 9 o’clock.
Under special order, unanimously
adopted, the final vote will be taken
Tuesday; the time will be equally di
vided and debate close at 4 o’clock.
FINLEY ARRESTED, BUT MAR
SHAL GETS PRISONER.
Asheville, N. C., July 27.—Devel
opments came thick and fast in the
Railroad Rate law contest this morn
ing. Warrants of arrest were issued
for President Finley, of the Southern
Railway Company, and 0. C. Wilson,
city ticket agent of the same road.
The warrant for President Finley
was placed in the hands of a police
man, who went to the Battery Park
Hotel to serve the papers upon the
executive head of the Southern. Tn
the meantime, arrangements had been
made for habeas corpus proceedings
before Judge Pritchard to obtain
Mt. Finley’s release.
Prevents Finley's Arrest.
The policeman did not succeed in
reaching the police court with his
prisoner. Just as he was ready to
leave the hotel a deputy United
States marshal walked in and took
charge of Mr. Finley. The police
man stood aside, and Mr. Finley was
taken to the Federal Court room.
He was released by Judge Pritchard
shortly before 1 o’clock.
A LOST ART.
Public courage is in danger of be
coming a lost art. We mean the cour
age to face the people and tell them
in plain language unpalatable truths.
It required courage and of a high or
der, in Charles Hughes to beard the
corrupt managers of the big insur
ance companies and denounce them
for the sharpers they are. They had
power to injure him, both in his pub
lic and private ambitions. The ram
ifications of their collateral influence
were widespread and the meshes of
their nets very fine and strong. It
required courage of true ring in Mr.
Roosevelt to thwart the pork barons
and curb railroad impudence, and
even hint at the curtailment of swol
len and goitrous fortunes. These pi
ratical interests had ffieir emissaries
in the United States Senate, and the
power to obstruct, and, indeed, to
bring to naught, the cherished plans
of the President rests with that rich
man’s club. It even requires some
sort of courage to bait poor, bewig
ged Rockefeller, both by harrying the
old money bags from hole to corner
5n his hiding, 'and badgering him
in court. Though only a private citi
zen the arm of a billion dollars is not
shortened that it can find no wea
pon of offense and vengeance. But
in all of these and like instances the
objects of attack are the subjects
of public opprobium a»d universal
detestation. That this feeling is jus
tified by demerits commensurate with
the venom felt we will not now ar
gue; we believe it is, but anyhow the
fact remains as stated. The crowd
is with the assailant, and approves
the assault, and every resounding
blow is drowned in applauding cheers.
We are not deprecating the attacks;
we commend them in the interest of
morals and the general good. We
regret they have been so long de
layed and bid them godspeed. We
merely observe that the courage re
quired is not phenomenal nor of the
highest rank, for it runs with the
popular current of thought and re
ceives impulsion from common con
sent. It is an instance of following
the multitude to do good and seldom
outstrips the swift wishes of the
people.
The courage that is rare, and is,
we fear, a lost art and employment
is to pull against tide and stream, to
breast the hill under the heavy load
of right, with the blinding wind in
the face. It is of that choice and
unique character that dares tell the
people they are wrong, wholly and ir
remediably out of the straight path,
and resolutely refuses to obey popu
lar behests. It is amusing to notice
the perfervid, tearing indignation
w th which the stump orator lashes
an imaginary and, if real, an absent