Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-09-30

seasons may make. lie does not, as
he should, admonish them that at this
time, when money is abundant, men
should throw off the burden of debt
and extricate themselves from positions
OF perils if times should change. He
teaches the false and mischievous doc
trine that government policies and
not honest toll and frugal care, that
the schemes of the brain, not the
sweat of the brow, give competence to
men. Much has been said about the
absurdity of fiat money. How much
more absurd are Mr.. Sherman's teach
ings of fiat prosperity. In this direc-
ton Mr. Sherman outstrips Denis
Kearney.
The points most conspicuous in the
speeches and journals of the Republi-
can party are, first that this is a nation,
and next, this election is q contest
between the Northern and Southern
States, in which victory will be great
gain to the former party. We charge
that the denunciations of the South
are used to mask their designs to get
jurisdiction over all the Union and
mainly over the interests and people
of the North, as they are the most
important and varied; that the term
"nation" is selected because it is n word
of obscure and indefinite meaning, and
if it is substituted for the legal and
proper title of Government it will en-.
able them to make changes in its
character hurtful to the rights of the
people and disastrous to the prosperity
of their business and industrial pur-
suits; that the mischief it will create
will not be for the remote future, but
they are pressing upon us now and
will be felt in their full force from
this time on, unless they are averted
by the results of the pending elections.
1t is a marked and conspicuous fact
in the political discussions of the past
four years that the Republican leaders
have sought to bring into use the words
Nation and Nationalism when speak
ing of our country. These have been
heretofore used without any special
significance rs terms general Y applied
to different divisions of the human
race into communities governed by
some forms of law. We always find
that the men who use the word-and
many like Senator Blaine love to call
it sovereign Nation-are in favor of
a different construction of the Consti-
tuition than has heretofore prevailed.
Mr.. Garfield openly states this when
he says that the views held by Mr..
Hamilton are growing in strength,
and he rejoices that our Government
is gravitating to more power. We
find, too, that they favor the plans of
the same distinguished statesmen of
gaining jurisdiction by constructions
put upon the words of the Constitu-
ton. As they do not like, at this
moment, to develop all their plans
which would excite alarm particularly
at the North, to mask their purposes
and to divert attention by exciting
passions and prejudices, they use the
word as far rs they can in connection
with sectional controversies, so that
it may be felt they only have in view
the strength of the Union. 1t is this
idea which gives their phrases
measure of favor with the Republican
party. They also take great pains in
their discussions to carry the idea that
nationality means something farvora-
BILE to the interests of the North. We
charge that the purposes of the Re
publican leaders are in conflict with
the Constitution; that they endanger
the peace, the order and the safety of
the Union. They draw to the Ma
tional Capitol hordes of men who
have selfish and corrupt objects, who
tempt officials to violate duty from
motives of ambition and greed for
gold. They impair the interests and
prosperity of different sections of our
Union by laws framed by men ignor.
ant of the subject upon which they
act and by legislation not only in con-
flict with the letter of the Constitution
but with its spirit and the genius of
all our political institutions, both local
and general.
1t must not be thought that the
changes which men seek to make in
the character of our Government by
the use of the words nation and ma
tionalism, and by the constructions
which they mean to put upon them,
relate only TO the theory of politics ;
that their influences are too uncertain
and remote to be of immediate con-
Germ. They affect us now. They not
only threaten but work disastrous re-
suits to the commerce of our country,
to the interests of the farmers of the
Western States, and to the business
prosperity of the whole country. We
know that cheap transportation has
led to the sale of our farm products