The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1878-08-15
in the deep water of Jeffersonianism

There is no way lett except TO press
forward through universal suffrage,
with all the present ills, and the
promise of future perils which that
course involves. Possibly we may
be obliged to leave our luggage trains
and some Of our jewelry in the rear.
but it is better for us to allow these
to sink, or be cast upon the shore to
rot. than to lose our lives in the effort
to keep them in tow.
It is idle now to criticise Jetferson's
theory. We must hold to it with all
its possibility Of growth, and all its
consequent outcome of new phases OF
development not anticipated by our
fathers When woman rears an
infant boy she does not think Of always
combining him to his baby clothing,
and when the little fellow asks for
something better and more capacious.
referring him to the pattern used in
making his first suit. and the GODDESS
of Liberty will doubtlessly be equally
sensible in regard to Jefferson's
Young America.
The doctrine is not so much form
as an idea. and ideas that are born for
the benefit of the race are not fixed
and arbitrary. but cosmopolitan and
progressive. We recognize this fact
in the growth Of individuals. and of
various inventions and religious
creeds, but refuse to admit its APP
plications to civil and political insti-
tutions. In fact we are too apt to
regard the latter as statnary carved
fn, 1,1r f,fl,
rather than as germs. or things OF
life, that begin to die when they cease
to grow. And. when reformer sug-
gests an Improvement on the old order
IF things, we call him an ''innovator.
'sagitator. and fanatic. If he tells
us what is coming. we say he is plot
ting against the harmony and peace OF
society. and denounce him as a
.revolutionist. it would be equally
consistent in us to call our barometers
hard names when they indicate a
storm during harvest, or to denounce
Profs. Tice and Rely as '.disturbers
of the atmosphere and the earth.
because they predict earthquakes and
tOrnadoes.
Our present financial system is the
the root Of all our troubles, and our
troubles will continue to multiply
While the root remains. Sooner or
| later the system must and Will be eN-
changed for one that will build up and
educate the people. When we cease
producing money Kings and '.Mer-
chant Princes we shall begin to have
prosperous and contented masses in
+ no Of ,p1 A;,L
individuals. \ liking is q king the
world over, and. as a rule, abuses his
power. and tyrannizes over his sub
jects, no matter whether his kingdom
consists of a realm, or of railroad
property. as in the case of Scott and
Vanderbilt; and the fact lies less in
the individual in system that allows
him to usurp a power that tends to
make him despotic and unworthy OF
the responsibility. The spirit of capt.
tai is radically greedy and selfish. 1t
is the old devil of conquest cast out
Of the realm Of respectable national
| policy. and suffered to "enter into a
herd of money getters. and will end
in running them down steep place
into the sea, unless they discern the
signs Of the times in a way to avert
the fate. We all know that demo-
crazy cannot long survive in the
absence of an independent. unbribed
suffrage. and we know equally well
that capital, as a rule, buys or ''con-
| trolls which is the same thing
nearly all the voters that come within
| its power. / can name hundreds of
large corporations where this is the
rule. | am informed by responsible
| citizens of Oswego, \. y. that If any
one Of the several hundred men en-
ployed in the great corn starch factory
of that city votes anything but a
| Republican ticket he does SO knowing
that his services will no longer be
required. OF course nothing is said
on the subject. as that would be
.bnlldozing.' and Mr.. kingsford is a
| gentlemen and prominent pillar III
the leading Baptist church. but the
result is reached in qniet way. and
as the workmen cannot afford to lose
their bread and butter for sentiment.
the great starch works 80 stiff
Republican. Yet. the masters are no
worse TIM tahe servants. The former
+, simply have opportunities WIich
ought not to exist. because the Dppor.
tunity develops the oppression as
nat lrally as a toad does wart. The
system which offers a premium for
such results is entrenched behind old
time institutions. and will either des
troy or he vanqnished BY Jeffersoni
anlsm. 1t is the ''old battle impor
ted from the east, into which W.
Tour new Democratic wine, and nov
that the wine i beginning to work.
we must exchange bottles. The pro
cess IT preparing new vessel, and Z
transferring the liquid to 1t, l comics
| know but little about. but it mus
be done in some way am as certain
as | am that Macnlev-s prediction
hangs over Us like the .'hand wTitin:
on the wall
JAMES G.. CLARK.