The Washington herald., 1906-12-07
BRYAN ON MESSAGE
Some Parts Good, Some Bad,
NebraSkan Says.
ADOPTS DEMOCRATIC DOCTRINE
President Takes Advanced Ground
I'm Some Instances, Retreats from
Ground Already Taken i'm Others.
Anti-fnjuRctiOn Recommendation
Not Satisfactory to Labor.

Lincoln. NebT., Dec. Elm commenting
on the Presidents message William J.
Bryan writes. in part. as follows in this
weeks issue OF the Commoner:
THE Presidents message contains much
for which the public may well thank
him. 1t contains some things that ought
to arouse severe criticism. The President
boldly appropriates some doctrines which
the Democrats have been advocating; he
| announces some doctrines so absurd as
TO excite amusement if the suggestions
came from a less prominent source In
| some cases he takes advanced ground; in
some cases he retreats from ground al
ready taken.
! lie urges Il law which viii make it
a criminal offense for any corporation to
contribute TO any campaign fund In this
suggestion he is right. But the Presi-
/ dent does not stop there
As to individual contributions he vlr-
/ tually recedes from the position taken in
a former message. He says: Let indi-
| viduals contribute as they desire While
/ 1t is eminently proper that corporations
should be forbidden to contribute, it is
also important that the contributions
made by individuals should be limited.
'The President asks for a law con-
ferr:ng upon the government the right Of
| appeal in criminal cases where disputed
questions of law are involved In this
/ the President is right
! The President says. The government
has begun a policy of resorting to the
criminal law in trust and interstate COM
merce cases whore such course offers a
reasonable chance Of success
Confession of NOnenforcement.
This is a confession that for many
years the government did not resort to
the criminal law in trust cases.
/ What the President says on the sub
| ject of government by Injunction will not
/ be satisfactory 70 the laboring men. for
+ instead of recommending that law which
will assure the right of trial by jury.
! he warns judges that 1t will be we'll
nigh impossible to prevent its abolition
/ abolition of the right of injunctiOn-if
I the process is habitually abused
The Presidents position on the child
I labor question is good. as also on the
( ielght-h0ur day. although he makes very
Questionable explanation as 10 the eight
I hour day when he speaks of the work at
I Panama. Many Will argue that a iimita-
I ton upon the hours Of labor IS as impor-
i tant within the tropics as ia the tenn
peTate zone
But in speaking Of the labor question
he feels called upon TO warn the coun-
/ try against sinister demagcgues and
foolish Missionaries, purveyors, sensational
Islanderers,' SC.
THE principal merit that the President
I possesses is that he Is contributing "a liz
tie toward remedial legislation in spite
Of the tact that he has to work with the
very men he denounces.
The President recommends the with
drawal Of the coal lands from sale This
is a gigantic step toward government
ownership.
The Presidents discussion of the trust
question can hardly he satisfactory to
those who have carefully studied the sub
ject. He is so anxious not 10 disturb
what he would call good combinations of
capital. that he shrinks from the legisIa-
tion necessary TO prevent those admitted
TO be bad.
States Rights Must BE Protected.
He directs attention to the japanese
question raised by the discrimination in
San Francisco, and asks for legislation
that VIII enable Congress TO protect the
treaty rights of foreigners. If any bills
are presented in response TO this sugges-
ton they must be carefully scrutinized
to be sure that they do not deny 20 the
various States the right to protect them
selves and their people in matters purely
local
In recommending a graded income tax
be not only approves the Democratic
doctrine of an income tax. but he goes
further than the Democratic party when
in the Law Of 1894
But. while there ought to be general
rej)icin.y a: the Presidents effort 10 i'm
prove our system of taxation, there viii
be general disappointment at the warlike
tone of his message, where he discusses
the army and navy. Shame upon the
Chief Executive that he should place an
instrument Cr brute force above tho ma
tion's sense Of justice as a guaTantOT of
peace
In reference to the recommendation for
the establishment of shooting galleries,
Mr.. Bryan says: What a shocking spec
tacle this country viii present when the
youths have no higher ambition than to
get ready to kill somebody"