St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-29
OUR NATIONAL SIN.

In his excellent lecture at the Peo-
pies church the other night, Gen. SAN
BORN sounded the depths of our social
and industrial troubles, and touched
bottom when he charged avarice with
being the cause of them all. History is
only repeating itself in the condition of
our country to-day. Human greed has
always been the prolific source of
human woes. In all ages and in all
countries the avariciouS have struggled
for control Of government for the sole
purpose of gratifying greed, and wher-
ever and whenever they have succeeded
in their aims history records the same
condition of affairs that prevails in this
country to-day. The rich grew richer
and the poor grew poorer, until at last
dynasty was erected on the founda-
tons that avarice had planted; or, as
it sometimes happened, the whole social
and political fabric was swept away in
red sea of revolution. To which end
are we coming?
1t is lamentable fact that the tend
ency of democratic government is to
germ and develop extreme individual
selfshnesS. And SO far have we pro-
crossed in this direction that avarice has
already stamped itself as a distinctive
American trait. 1t is stamped not only
upon communities, but it is indeIibly en-
graved upon our whole governmental
policy. Nowhere is it more distinctly
visible than in our tariff legislation,
which leaves the public interest out of
question, and is made to conform al
most exclusively to the interests of in
dividuals and private corporations. A
comparatively small percentage of the
tariff tax goes into the public treasury.
The amount collected by the custom
house officials represents only a part,
and small part, of the tax paid
by the consumers IN the purchase
of the necessaries of life. That is
paid as bonus to the manufacturers
and 70 the owners of mines, and goes into
their individual Golfers. There is no
moral principle by which such policy
can be justified. There is no govern
mental necessity demanding it. 1t is
simply an application of the Rob Roy
principle of government-'Le let him rule
who has the power, let him take who
can" Avarice was at tie foundation
OF the system adopted by the Scottish
outlaw, and ayarice is the underlying
principle of our American prohibitory
tariff legislation.
AS Gen. SANBoRN so emphatleally as
serts, there is but one rule by which
governments can be administered sue
cessfully. That is the Golden Rule.
Equal and exact justice must be done to
all citizens. or else the government is
not worth perpetuating. Our census re-
ports. which show a great aggregation
of wealth, do not tell of nation
al prosperity unless they likewise
show an even distribution of that
wealth Our next census report, if it
is a correct one, will make most mis-
cradle showing in this respect. 1t will
show that nine-tenths of the wealth is
In the hands of less than one-tenth of
the population, and yet it will show
that the great bulk Of the taxes are
paid by those who own the least prop
erty. And yet this abnormal and ilIog-
ical state of affairs is directly traceable
to our tariff legislation, and that is
founded upon Individual avarice.
Gen. SANBoRN distinctly points out
that the same great moral laws which
apply to individuals apply to nations,
and there is Power above and inde-
pendent of mankind capable of execut-
ing them. The poor mans eve lamb is