The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-08-13
build their faith upon foundations laid

plldSlS w WillCll CtIlllOl pt Sul JelHStds poih
 the duty and the sphere of government
 He said: Distinctions in society will
 always exist under every just govern ment. Equality of talents, of education
 or of wealth cannot be produced by
 human institutions. In the full enjoy
 ment of the gifts of heaven and the
 fruits of superior industry. economy
 and virtue every man is equally enti-
 tied, to protection by law
 "We yield to none in our devotion to the doctrine just enunciated. Our cam-
 paign has not for it's object the recon
 struction of society. We cannot insure
 to the vicious the fruits of virtuous
 life; we would not invade the home of
 the provident in order to supply the
 wants of the spendthrift; we do not
 propose to transfer the rewards of in-
 dustry to the lap of incidence. Prop
 erty Is and will remain the stimulus
 and endeavor and the compensation for
 toll. We believe as asserted in the
 Declaration of Independence that all
 men are created equal; but that does
 not mean that all men are or can be
 equal In possessions, in ability or in
 merit. It simply means that all shall
 
 government officials shah not, in mak-
 ing, construing or enforcing the law,
 discriminate between citizens I assert
 that property rights, as well as the
 rights of persons, are safe in the hands
 of the common people.
 Abraham Lincoln, in his message sent to congress in December, 1881, said:
 No men living are more worthy to be
 trusted than those who toll up from pow
 erty none less inclined to take or touch
 aught which they have not honestly
 earncd.' I repeat his language with
 unqualified approval, and join with him
 in the warning which he added, name ly, Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they already
 possess, and which power, if surren-
 dered will surely be used to close the
 doors of advancement against such as they, and to fix new disabilities and
 burdens upon them, till all of liberty
 shall be lost
 Those who daily follow the injunc-
 tion Tn the sweat of their face; shall
 thou eat bread are now as they ever have been the bulwark of law and or
 der--the source of our nations great
 ness in time of peace, and surest de- lenders in time of war, But I have
 only read a part of Jackson's utter
 ance let me give you his conclusion:
 But when the laws undertake to add to those natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles,
 gratuities and exclusive privileges to
 make the rich richer and the potent
 more powerful, the humble members of society the farmers more chances and the day laborers, who have neither the
 time nor the means of securing like facors for themselves, have right to complain of the injustice of their gov ennent'
 Those who support the Chicago plat form endorse ali of the quotation from Jackson, the latter part as we'll as the former part. We are not surprised to | find arrayed against us those who are the beneficiaries of government favorit-
 ism, they have read of platform. Nor
 are we surprised to learn that we must In this campaign face the hostility of those who find pecuniary advantage in advocating the doctrine of non-inter- | ference when great aggregations of wealth are trespassing upon the rights of individuals. We welcome such op- position, 1t is the highest endorsement which could be bestowed upon us We | are content to have the cooperation of those who desire to have the gov ernment administered without fear or | favor "It is not the wish of the general pub lie that trusts should spring into exist ence and override the weaker mem bers of society, 1t is not the wish of | the general public that these trusts should destroy competition and then | collect such tax as they will from those who are at their mercy; nor is it the fault of the general public that the in- l strumentalities of government have been so often prostituted to purposes of | private gain Those who stand upon the Chicago platform believe that the government should not only avoid wrong doing; they believe that the law should be enforced alike against all enemies of the public veal
 They do not excuse petit larceny, but they declare that grand larceny is equally crime; they do not defend the | occupation of the highwayman who robs the unsuspecting traveler, but they include among the transgressors those | who, through the more polite and less | hazardous means of legislation, appro- | priate to their own use the proceeds of
 the toll of others
 "The commandment, Thou shall not steal thundered from Sinai and reiter- ated in the legislation of all nations. i is no respector of persons. It must be | applied to the great as well as the small, to the strong as well as the weak, to the corporate person created by law as well as to the person of flesh
 and blood created by the Almighty. No l government is worthy of the name which Is notable to protect from every arm uplifted for his injury the hum ] blest citizen who lives beneath the flag 1 Tt follows as a necessary conclusion
 that vicious legislation must be reme- died by the people who suffer from the | effects of such legislation, and not by | those who enjoy it's benefits. The Chi | cago platform has been condemned hy some because it dissents from an opin- | ion rendered by the supreme court de- | claring the income tax law unconstitu- 1 tional. Our critics even go so far as to apply the name anarchist to those who stand upon that plank of the platform. l It must be remembered that we ex- l pressly recognize the binding force of | that decision so long as it stands as a l part of the law Of the land