The Hazel Green herald. [volume] (Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Ky.) 1885-19??, 1894-05-17
ERulrs or PROTECTION.
Republican Rule Responsible for Social
tstic Demonstrations.


tstic Demonstrations.
The Coxey movement Is chiefly sig.
niflcant as an expression of the social
istic tendencies that have developed
under republican rule and protec tionist
principles In France the doctrine OF
protection has been accepted by the
socialists In it's logical consequences,
and men are saying To the state: since
protection makes prices high, give US
also protection for wages. Fix mini
mum scale. and let the state compel
employers To observe IL.
There was no principle more essen
italy embodied in the foundations of
American liberty than the principle OF
individual liberty-the independence
of the citizen. The state was SOW
ereign only because he, the citizen,
gave it Of his own sovereignty. IL
was his creation; he owed moth
ing to the state but loyalty and
obedience 70 necessary laws. The state
owed all to him. This spirit gave
the dignity and strength that char
acterized the men Of America. In its
destruction there has been no influence
more potent than the doctrine OF pro-
lection. In its very essence II assumes
that one set OF individuals is not as
strong AS another set of individuals,
that man isn't able To stand up be-
fore the world and win his own way
through il. In practice, 1t has fostered
the idea that one class must be made
10 contribute to another and far small
err class; that the government has the
right to interfere in the affairs of its
citizens and determine how much OF
one mans goods shall be given TO an'
other man. II has made the govern
ment a part OF and party to the
money-getting machinery of the fav'
ored class, and has made money getting
governmental function, leaving the
mines OF the citizens with no sense of
their personal independence and indi-
vidual responsibilities. We are no
longer a nation OF sovereigns, but Of
dependents. So patcrnalism drifts into
socialism, and so protection comes back
to the protected in the appeal OF
Coxeys army" for help
In this country che masses have not
yet learned To apply the logic OF the
situation; but they are fast learning it
1t is no new idea; the inevitable conse-
quenc ~ of protection were foreseen
years ago by students of sociological
tendencies SO long ago as 1851 Cavour,
the Italian economist, said:
II maintain that the most powerful ally OF
socialism in It's logical relations Is the doctrine
OF protection. 1t sets out from absolutely the
same principle Reduced to its simplest terms,
IL afnrms the right and duty OF government to
intervene In the employment anu distribution
OF capital; IL affirms that the function and mis-
sion OF government are to substitute its more
enlightened decisions for the freedecison OF the
Individual II these principles should become
recognized as incontestably true, do not see
what answer could be made to the working
classes and their representatives whom they
came to the government and said: You believe
In the right aud duty Of regulating the dis
tribution of capitol why not also take up the
regulation Of production and wages' Why not
establish government workshops"
Germany and France, and now the
United States, have verified these
words. The proposition is so self-evi-
dent that it scarcely needs discussion.
Speaking of Mr., Leon Says PROPOSE
ton that protection insensibly leads to
"nationalism," Is French authority on
economical questions lays down the
principle that between protection aud
socialism the line OF distinction is very
difficult to perceive" A Frenchman
defined the difference as being that
the protcctionist was n rich man,
while the socialist was a pauper
Undoubtedly, il the robbcr barons
are right CoXey is also right, and so
are the popuiistS, and with more JUS
ticc on the side of the latter, for their
needs are greater. The populists are
but the natural outgrowth of republic
anism and protection.
Let CoXcy blow his trumpet long and
Justify at the gates of the robber
barons. II is his turn now.-Louisville
Courier-Journal.