The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-07-06
THE PRIDE OF AMERICA.
An Eloquent Address Delivered by
Senator Ingalls, on Our Ma
tional Honors.
The Race Question, Our Indepen-
dence, Inventive Powers,
Freedom and Liberty.
A Race That Won't Minxle-HOpeIcss La
bor-Inequalitics Of W~eSlth-Our
General Advancement.

DOr--10e1unllLleb OF WeDltn- Our
Genera Advancement.
A slender symphony in gray was ex-Sena-
tor ingalls, as he stepped upon the platform
of the immense stone amphitheater of the
National Chnutauqua in Glen Echo, near
Washington, ID. G., a few days since, to dis
cuss the problems of our second century.
He wore a Prince Albert suit. evidently
brand new, of a soft gray material, while
the necktie, which formed a background
for the flashing of a brilliant diamond, WAS
also gray. His neat gaiter tops matched
his costume; there was a silvery-gray CLINT
in his golden eyeglasses, and his hair and
mustache have, as every n knows, been
gray for many years. As he appeared upon
the platform the large audience, which had
gone out from the city to hear him. ap-
plauded for several minutes, a compli-
ment which the ex-senator acknowl-
edged by a jerky little bow of his angular
body. He began his lecture with a glowing
tribute to Washington, eulogizing its many
advantages as n residence city, and refer
ring to its lack of popular suffrage md pro-
dieting that the time would never come
when it would not be the n Iital. Even if
the capitol should be taken, stone by stone,
to be planted in the stately prairies Of the
west, or the Washington monument be
erected on the ~loftiest peak of the Rocky
mountains. the spirit. the significance and
the history Of those structures would linger
here for all time.
"There is a growing sentiment" said
Senator ingalls,, as he entered upon the
topic he had selected for his talk, 'in favor
of paternalism in this country-of the
government doing everything and the
people doing nothing" This " he
added, sis Numerically opposed
to the idea of individualism upon which
this government has been built and to the
good Anglo-Saxon doctrine of root. hog or
die. 1t has always happened in every COM
munity that the weak were more numerous
than the strong, that the number of those
who failed out-numbered those who sue
ceeded, and that the wise. the intelligent
M the thoughtful were in the minority.
We have now a new school of political
philosophy that is repudiating the Declare
ton of Independence. and is endeavorinQ
to overthrow the maxims of democracy and
to insist that the race shall not be for the
swift nor the battle to the strong; that the
distinction ordained by God among
men shall be mn obliterated statute,
SO that idleness shall bring the same
reward as industry and thrift; that
the Ignorant shall be as wise
AS the learned; that debts shall be
paid by acts of congress applause and
laughter); that mone shall be made as
plenty as the autumn forests (renewed
laughter); that taxation shall be abolished
by acts OF a state legislature, and that
property shall be forcibly distributed equal
ly among all men"
A strong contrast was presented of the
laborer working necessarily. only to end
his years i'll helpless mendicancy, and the
81, 900 people who hold more than one-half
of the acquired earnings of the republic for
the last 100 years. "This is not right" he
exclaimed, land as the defender of Anglo
Saxon civilization, as the upholder of its
standard against all Corners, l am here to
say that the most modern agitations have
some foundation for their complaints
against the injustice of society (applause);
and that they are not without warrant in
declaring that there is a cruel Inequality in
the distribution of the wealth, the bene4 is,
and the privileges of life"
With a scathing ~denunciation of the ex-
travaaance that expends $4,000 on flowers
for a wedding, and repeating that 30, 900
men controlled one.half of the wealth of
the country, Mr.. Ingalls, strobe to the front
of the platform and, raising his slender
form to it's full height, he Numbered: 'If
10000 men can do this, what is to prevent
one man from getting control of it ALP"
1.-The doctrine of the devil take the hind
most" continued Mr.. Ingalls,, amid laugh
ter, lis a good one, but just now it seems
AS ii there were more hindmost than fore
most. If the present condition of things
were to continue without being re-
tarded. this land, instead of being the
homo of the free and tho land of the
brave. would be the home OF tho rich
md tha land nf tho clnvaS Tbap ha "a
fsrred to the fact that George Washington
was in his time the richest man in the
United States. "ro-day." he said, mo po-
litical party would dare to set up for its
candidate the richest man in the United
States" The business side of George
Washington was summed up by Mr.. In
gals III the following unique fashion:
George Washington, in addition to his
other virtues, was a prudent and thrifty
and forehanded man. He knew a good
thing when he saw it [laughterl, and he
knew it a good ways off. When a youth on
surveying expeditions he made valuable To-
cation that did not dimsnish in value
afterward. The location of the capital"
and here Mr.. Ingalls, smiled in a
sort of quissical way, within fifteen
miles of his farm, did not impair the
value of that estate. He was an honest
debtor. but an exact, if not exacting, cred
itor. ] repeat that at the time of his death
he was the richest man in the country.
How much was he worth? Between $780,
600 and $500. 900. To-day there are scores
of men in this country whose annual in
come exceeds the entire value of all the
property held by the richest man in the
country 100 years ago. There is one man
the largest private holder of government
bonds-who has a larger income from the
coupons of those government bonds than
the entire estate of George Washington
was worth. l don't think that is right.
The problem that we are 10 consider ia,
how we are to prevent it. Fifty of the great
articles of life arc now controlled by syndi-
Gates, trusts and corporations. so that a
poor man has little chance to go into bust
ness. One of the questions that are to be
decided at the next presidential election is
whether undel n government of the people
and for the people and by tho people, where
all men are equal before the law, any man
has a right to obtain absolute control of
$500, 0OO0. 600, when the per capita distribu-
ton would be less than 81 900. l have
heard men with temerity enough to ques-
tion whether n citizen bad a right to $780,
100000 or even $4,000 900. In the s~trlctest
confidence between myself and you, / seri-
ously question whether, in the sense of Civ
ing compensation or equivalent, any man
ever honestly earned even 81, 200, 900.
|great applause, And yet the reason why
! have not ST. 900, 900 liz because l do not
know how to got TIA frank confession
winch seemed to greatly amuse the audi