The record-union., 1896-09-08

must ever be the Nations surest pro-
lection in time of peril"
Ihe speaker then took from his pock-
ct the copy of an address by Abraham
Lincoln, delivered in Congress, from
which he quoted certain paragraphs,
one OF which called attention to an
effort made to place capital on an
equality with, if not above, labor in the
structure of Government, and following
with the assertion that capital is only
the fruit of labor and could have never
existed without it. Labor" said Lin
coin, lis superior to capital and de-
serves much hicher consideration"
Mr.. Bryan Iuilowed by quotation
from Solomon, ard continued: Solo
mon favored neither poverty nor riches.
He regarded that condition best which
is not at either extreme, but lies be-
tween the extremes. Neither great
riches nor abject poverty furnish us the
soil in which grows the best civiliza-
ton. Those who are pressed by pow
erty lose the ambition, the inspiration.
the lofty purpose that are necessary to
lead one on to the greatest achieve
ments, and those who possess too great
wealth lose the necessity for labor-that
labor which is absolutely essential to
the development of that which is best in
human nature. Solomon was right.
therefore, when he praised this interme-
diate place, for the great middle classes
are the bulwark of society, and from the
middle classes have come almost all the
good that has come to bless the human
race.
Let me call your attention to the
fact that when the meek and lowly
Nazarene came among men and
preached peace on earth and good Will
toward men he was not welcomed by
those who are described as people who
devour widows houses, and under pre-
lenses made long prayers, but when He
gave that great commandment, Love
thy neighbor as thyself,' who listened to
Him? The Scripture tells us it was the
common people who listened to His
commandments and who welcomed
Him. Scriptures say the common peo-
pie heard him gladly-and the common
people are the only people who have
ever heard gladly any man who ever
preached humanity and equal rights.
prolonged cheers.)
II do not mean to say that there are
no exceptions to the general rule. There
have always been found among the rich
er classes those who are filled with the
spirit of philanthropy. There are those
who are willing to uplift their fellow
men. But 1 am speaking of those who
place themselves above the common
people. Nor do I mean that you have
never found among the common people
those who would betray their fellows.
in
stage of society, the character of Ju-
das. In any class are to be found those
ready to betray their brother. Yet STILL
| in spite of this, the common people have
| been the great and telling force that has
| lifted civilization to a higher ground.
There are three forms of government
best known among men. There is the
monarchy, where the king rules by
right divine. There is the aristocracy
where few control, and there is the
democracy, which means the rule of
| the people themselves. Why is it that
the strength of the democracy-I do not
| use that term in party sense, but IN
the broader sense-why is it that the
strength of democracy has always been
found among the common people? 1t is
simple enough. If a man has high po-
sition or great wealth, he may be able
to stand and keep on the good side Of
| the king; if he has got influence, he will
be one of the ruling classes in the ar
istocracy; but you are not willing to
leave any form Of government to your
| children except a democracy, in which
each citizen is protected in the enjoy
! metn of life and the pursuits Of happi-
ness. The great common people be-
| lieve in a democratic form of govern
ment, because it is only in that form of
government that they are able to pro-
| tect their rights and defend their inter-
ests so far as government can defend a
| mans interest.
Let me dwell for a moment upon the
object of government in this land. Our
Government derives its powers from the
consent of the governed. What kind of
government will people consent to?
Only that kind of government that pro-
tects all, and which knows no favorit-
| ism; a government in which every citi-
zen stands on the same plane, without
regard to position in society and with
| out regard to wealth (cheers); a govern
| ment which knows equal rights to all
and confers special privileges on none
that is the kind of government that ap-
peals to the affections of the common
people.
There are two things to be considered
in government The first is that in the
enactment of legislation you should be
careful to give no advantage to one
person over another person, if that ad-
vantage can be prevented. 1t is the
| duty of the Government to protect all,
e-;l
| Again, government must restrain people
from injuring one another; this is one
of the important duties Of government
to prevent men from injuring one an
other. and the Government that fails to
restrain the strongest from injuring the
weakest is a Government which fails
| to do its whole duty.
Il was passing through Iowa some
months ago, and / got an idea from
some hogs. Oaughter) An idea is the
most important thing that a person can
get into his head. ard we gather our
| ideas from every source. Riding along
| in the cars / noticed number of hogs
| roofing in a field and tearing up the
| ground The first thought that came
to me was that they were destroying a
good deal of property. and that carried
me back to the time when / lived on
| the farm. and / remembered that we
| had rings in the noses of our hogs. And
why? Not to keep the hogs from get
ting fat, for we were more interested in
| their getting fat than they We're
! 0.aughter.) The sooner they got fat
the sooner we killed them, and the long
er they were in getting fat the longer
they lived.
But why We're rings put in the noses
| of these hogs? So that while they We're