The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-09-02

and then what? I think I can hear the boy orator of the year 1900 telling the masses that free silver would have worked all right if Wall street had not gobbled up the gold and given the sil- yer to the poor. think hear him proclaim In good Byranese, "The earth is the common heritage of man and the plutocrat shall not buy it with mess of silver pottage." '"The state must own us, the state must protect us, the state must feed us or we are lost" First the railroads, telegraph and telephone lines, then the income tax, then the single or land tax, then a small portion of the fortunes of the rich, then larger portion, then every thing.
 Why take the railroads first? It may dawn on the toiling masses before No Vember that if free silver is to lift the crown of thorns," it is very strange that it did not occur to MT, Bryan to demand the silver mines first. The railroads cost somebody ten billion dol lars. They are the product of honest toil If the earth is the common heri- tage of man why not begin with that part of it that can be made into mon- ey? Why pay a bounty of 100 per cent. to the man who finds the silver before it is allowed to start on it's doubtful journey to the wage earner?
 MT. Bryan tells the masses that they must pry the classes off the earth, but he seems to be very careful to give the masses the short end of the lever.
 Let us analyze this old nostrum of the demagogue, paternalism. And what I say upon this subject shall say as citizen of what MT. Bryan proclaims to be the grandest, greatest and most glorious nation on the face of the earth. I believe that universal suffrage, individual liberty and the right of private property have made MT. Bryan's country great and glorious, and I believe that the fruits of Utopi- an justice and plenty will come to the generation that has the wisdom to avoid the mistakes of the preceding ones; the honesty to give to every man the fruits of his labor and the courage to lead to the halter of public con- tempt the first demagogue that tries to ride into power on the dragon of repu-. diation and paternalism It seems to me that the citizens of MT. Bryan's great and glorious nation may well stop once in a while and consider the real cause of its greatness and glory. Not that we have reached the limit, but that we may not in a fit of madness lose sight of the pole star of civiliza- tion and happiness. individualism.
 True, paternalism is not quite social ,e.,,, eN,,;o p,tt paternalism Is the key that unlocks the door to socialism, and the nation that enters the door leaves hope behind. It is true that the cost of transportation is the curse of commerce, but it is also true that the cost of transportation to- day is about one-third of what it was in the year before the great crime" of 1873. The average 1895 dividend re- ceived by the owners of the railroads was less than two per cent, but I am aware that these facts have little weight with the paternalist. He de- mands this two per cent, and we must therefore give to him the ne plus ultra of "one hoss shay" logic and allow him his full share in the heap of dust on the meeting house hill
 
 can't have too much of it. Give every thing to the state and the state in it's omniscience will in turn give to each man the work he is best fitted to do and pay him accordingly. A volunta ", unselfish universal servitude wherein men will love each other so that the strong will tumble over the weak in their haste to secure the dirty work. Mr. Bryan and his cabinet will pluck the chickens, dress the onions, draw the water and hew the wood in Paradise regained. So much for logic; now let us leave delusion and dementia to the care of the asylums and as req sonable beings let us see just what will happen when we have surrendered lib- erty and property to the state. Let us follow the fate of the railroads and perhaps it won't be necessary to go further
 MT Bryan's platform demands in one plank that the freight trains be put in charge of the federal authorities and in another he demands that the power to stop the mob from destroying those trains be taken away from the federal judges. But such little slips don't count when you have a crucifxion to prevent.
 Civil service is to be exiled and the spells system is to be returned to the throne. MT. Bryan's state. will say to this man you are an ignorant republi- can, you may dig. To the populist pol itician with a pull, come dine with us. In New York the railroads will be given to the fostering care of that Oneida community known as Tammany Hall In Connecticut to that band of. Shakers organized by Brother Troup who has been these many years mending the nets of greenbackism and waiting for somebody to call him to catch. The toiling masses may get a chance to brake but don't quite see how their wages are to be raised with transpor- tation furnished at cost in fifty-three cent dollars.
 It is my opinion that individualism has led us a long way on the road to Utopia and that it will lead us the rest of the way if we ever get there. We were told 1900 years ago that if man would love his neighbor as himself there would be no need of law or prophet, but I don't recall that any man has had the courage to take this moral venture. In the industrial world the man who gives his coat to one who