Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-28
No Response.

Fan Francisco Call.
The politicians have been gently tap
ping at the heads of their leaders to
see II the sound emitted would call out
any response from the people. The
head tapping so far has not been pro.
ductive of great results. The heads
tapped have given forth . dull sound,
the tone of which could not be inter.
preted by the people. Blaine, Sher.
man, Edmunds, Window, and at last
Conger, have been sounded, but their
names bring forth no response. 1t
may be necessary to state that the lat.
ter Ia senator from Michigan, dis.
tinguished for nothing In particular
but his hostility to o portion of the
American family of states. The next
presidential contest will doubtless be
fought by the present parties, but
neither of them represents the strong
undercurrent of opinion existing
among the people. That opinion Is
not, as has been represented, q ten.
dency to communism, but q de-.
termination to resent the encroach-
ment of associated capital. Under
the plea of vested rights and the obi.
CATION of contracts, capital Ia seeking
to emancipate Itself from legislative
control. 1t declsres that it Is not safe
subject to the sense of Justice of the
people, to which our liyes and liberties
are subject. A tribunal which Is held
to be sufficiently honest and intelli.
gent to make and administer laws reg.
ulating the conditions under which In.
dividusls may live and act, Is declared
not to be sufficiently honest and intel.
ligent to make and administer the laws
regulating the ownership Of property.
These ideas must be eradicated from
the minds of the representatives of as.
ISOLATED capital before they will be.
come In the full sense of the termgood
citizens. Their present purposes are
at war with republican institutions.
No man who has recently obtained
prominence In public life Is sound on
this question. The senate Is especially
unsafe. It a hardly be said that
there Is q man there who represents
the people. They nearly all take the
corporation view of the rights Of prop.
erty. When Thurman, of Ohio, went
down before the opposition he had
provoked, he left NO successor, 1t is
of 40 use, therefore, to tap the skulls
of senators In the search for presiden-
tial timber. There Is very little dit
ference between the parties ON this
point. While the democrats sound
the heads of such men a. Justice Field,
and railroad president and director
Jewett, they cannot reproach the re-
publicans for making similar expert.
ments with Sherman, Oonger & Co.
There Il . principle which will show
itself In some future campaign, the ~
sertion of which q necessary to the
permanence of the republic. That
principle is a. to the relative rights of
individuals and of property. s the
law which Ii sufficiently supreme to
take life to be paralyzed when itoomes
In contact with property2 If We may
trust the people with our lives and
liberties, may we not also trust them
with our propsrtyl The great oor
porations say we may not. The right
to live Is, In their opinion, less sacred
than the right to obtain all the ad-
vantages they can from the possession
Of property. The fallacy of the cor
poration argument will soon be shown.
1t only needs are careful examination
OF Its claims to secure Its rejection.
Against property In any form, whether
held by individuals or corporations,
there Is no feeling, but against the
claims Of property to beabove the laws
to which our lives and liberties are
subject, there Is q growing opposition.