The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1888-12-08
THE president IS MESSAGE.

the question which the Democratic
party made the issue of the recent
campaign. 1t reads, to US, as over
tinged with the adverse response Of
the people to the question; conveying
the impression that their negative on
the Democratic propositions, reflects
heresies of Government dangerous
to the stability Of the nation. While
the public may properly be warned OF
the tendencies of the period which Mr..
Cleveland portrays, we have no doubt
that when the real danger line is i'm
minent, the American people viii as
heretofore be equal to the emergency.
That the "farmers and workingmen'
did not respond to the recent appeal
warrants no assumption that they will
not if the aggressions and abuses pre-
gress Unchecked. The picture is over
shaded. Vast aggregations of wealth
and the banding of corporations for
personal ends are not unmixed evils.
These are incident to the progress of
wondrous age; aud the power of Il
mighty nation. The forces of their
creation are to be held in check and
control; but not execrated by contrast
with the "good old days or uprooted
for the evil that is in the furture.
The portion of the message to which
We refer should be read by all and
as far as our space permits is here
published:
10 the Congess ofthe United States.
As you assemble for the discha rye
of the duties you have assumed as the
representative of a free and generous
people, your meeting is marked by an
interesting and impressive incident.
With the expiration of the present ses-
sion of the Congress, the first century
of cur constitutional existence as a ma
ton will be completed.
Our survival for 100 years is not
sufficient to assure us tLat we no longer
have dangers to fear in the maintenance
with all its promised blessings of a
Government founded upon the freedom
of the people. The same rather adj
monishes us to soberly enquire wheth-
er in the past we have always closely
kept in the course of safety and wheth-
er we have before us a way plain and
clear which leads to happiness and
prosperity. The citizen of our repub-
lie in its early days rigidly insisted
upon full compliance with the letter of
this bond, and saw stretching out be-
fore him clear field for individual en-
deavor. His tribute to the support of
bis government was measured by the
cost of its economical maintenance, and
he was secure in the enjoyment of the
remaining recompense If he was steady
and contented. AS it was in those
days, the frugality of the people was
stamped upon their government, and
was enforced by the free, Thoughtful
and intelligent suffrage of the citizens.
Combinations, monopolies and aggre-
cations of capital were either avoided
or sternly resisted and restrained. The
pomp and glitter of governments less
free offered no temptation and present.
ed no delusion to the PLAIN people, who,
side by side, in friendly competition,
wrought for the ennoblemcnt and dig
nifty of man, for the solution of the
problem of free government, and
for the achievement of the grand des-
tiny awaiting the land which God had
given them. A century has passed !;
our cities are the abiding places Of
wealth and lurury; our manufactures
yield fortunes never dreamed of by the
fathers of the Republic. Our business
men are madly striving in the race for
riches, and immense aggregations Of
capital outrun the imagination in the
magnitude of their Undertakings.
We view with pride and satisfaction
the bright picture of our country's
growth and prosperity, while only a
closer scrutiny develops a somber
shading. Upon more careful inspec-
ton VIC find the wealth and luxury of
our cities mingled with poverty and
wretchedness and unremunerative to
1t. A crowded and constantly increas-
ing urban population suggests the inn
poverishment of rural sections and dis
content with agricultural pursuits; the
farmers son, not satisfied with his
fathers simple and laborious life, joins
the eager chase for easily acquired
wealth.
We discover that the fortunes real
lied by our manufacturers are no
longer solely the reward of steady in
dustry and enlightened foresight, but
that they result from the discriminate
ing favor of the government, and are
largely built upon under exactions
from the masses of our people. The
gulf between employer and the en-
ployed is constantly widening and
classes are rapidly forming, one COM
prising the very rich and powerful,
while in another are fonnd the toiling
poor.
AS we view the achievements Of
aggregated capital, we discover the cx-
istence of trusts and combinations and
monopolies. while the citizen is strug-
Cling far in the rear, and trampled to
death beneath an iron heel Corpora
tions, which should be the carefully
restrained creatures of the law and the
servants of the people, are fast becom-
ing the peoples masters. Still, con-
graduating ourselves upon the wealth
and prosperity of our country, and
complacently contemplating every in
cideDt of change inseparable from
these conditions, it is our duty, as
patriotic citizens, to inquire at the
present stage of our progress how the
bond of the government, made with
the people, has been kept and per-
formed. Instead of limiting the trib-
ute drawn from our citizens to the
necessities of its economical admins
tration, the government persists in ex-
acting from the substance Of the people
of millions which, unapplied and use
less, lie dormant in its treasury. This
fragrant injustice and this breach OF
faith and obligation add to the extor-
ton and danger attending the diversion