Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-04-12

'Uu- administration Ii thoroughly demo
cratic In the sense that it came into power
without sect!onal appeal: u had tho consent Of
every part Of the country II was triumph Of
the people over politicians and classes. pro.
test against privilege
1.-THE Jeffcrsonian idea Is reliance upon tho
people and confidence In them
''The founders OF the republic were not all In
agreement with democratic ideas; many Of
them. nursed under the cold shadow OF aristo-
cratic forms, Gistrusted the people: they
looked to Europe for instruction and models,
they deferred 70 wealth, education and well.
born position. II WAS then that our party roae
under the guidance OF the brain that produced
the charter OF American liberty: II came into
being to save the fruits of the revolution, to
curb the tendency to revert to the government
of q class, and to raise the poor man to an
equality in the state and al him for the public
service
sit taught that government Is the creation Of
the people, an instrument for their use. and
that it should be for the equal benefit OF all; 1t
developed the idea that 1t is the best govern
ment that governs the least. that preserves do
nestle order and Is strong for defense, but
which does not interfere with the pursuits OF
the people In such a government the delegated
power to tax is limited to the needs of govern
ment economically administered. It cannot
confer favors upon individuals or classes nor
assist them in their business by legislation nor
can it create systems OF agriculture manufac-
ture or trade
Gentlemen the administration and the men
who stand with it in congress are trying to re.
store our government to the principles from
which IL has so Ear drifted The great body OF
the privileged class end the representatives OF
the protected interests oppose and denounce it
becarse 1t is striving to carry out Jefersonian
principles as history states them and as we I'M
derstand their applica ton to the present time
The concentrated efforts OF enormous wealth
and organized selfish interests are working
against US.
when our opponents refer to the founders Of
the republic 1t Is only to claim that they ap-
proved OF the system OF indirect taxation
They never approved OF taxes for protection.
Taxation was for revenue, and all protection
was incidental to it In their time there was no
accumulated wealth and the only way to raise
revenue was upon imports; it was equal taxa
ton. tecause there was then o nearer equality
Of condition than the world had ever before
seen and the chief pursuits of the people were
agriculture and commerce.. How Jefferson and
Madison would act now may be judged from the
maxims Of their policy. They took the best
methods at the time under the circumstances
to serve the people, but class legislation was
abhorrent to their democracy, and in that opin-
ion we follow them They would advocate 9
burden Of taxation Our great master. whose
birthday we now celebrate says it all in lam
guage no one Can improve:
with all these blessings what more Is neces-
sary to make US happy and prosperous peo-
pie: Still one thing-a wise and frugal gov
ernment, which shall restrain men from injur-
ing one another, shall leave them free to regu-
late their own pursuits Of industry and improve
ment, and shall not take from the mouth Of
labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum
of good government, and this is necessary to
close the circle Of our felicities'"