The Topeka state journal., 1897-08-10
1T HAS A GREAT WORK
The Government Should Con-
troll and Restrain
The Great Trusts Now Menac'
ing the Republic.
CIVIL SERVICE, TOO,
Should be Extended and More
Officials Made Elective.

A Journal reporter today asked Major
]. X Hudson, What are the future as
sues of the Republican party?'
The Major studied the question 81
lently for some minutes, and then sa1d:
You PROFOUND a conundrum some
what difficult to answer. 1t is too early
to more than express an individual
opinion that may have to be changed,
especially in our state affairs, by new
conditions that year may bring forth.
The wisdom or the blunders of the state
and national administrations now In
power may change the issues. There
are some subjects, however, that deeply
concern the future of the republic that
properly engage the attention OF serI-
Gus and thoughtful citizens. 1t seems
10 me apparent that the absorbing
money question of the last national
campaign is solving itself in a natural
way in spite OF all the theories of the
political doctors. The great discoveries
of gold throughout the world, from
Africa to. Alaska, and the refusal of
the great nations of the earth to in
crease their silver issues destroys the
demand for silver and the surplus on
hand and being produced brings by the
ineXorable law of supply and demand
the reduction now taking place in the
market price of silver. The Republi-
can party will, no doubt, give the coun-
try as it promised to do in the last
system, based upon the gold standard.
Already the country begins to feel the
business improvement OF a settled tariff
policy. The tariff and free silver, II
may be safely said, will very naturally
be eliminated from the next national
campaign.
What, then, will be the questions
upon which parties will divide and ma
4ional policies be made? To my mind
the Republican party, always taking
advanced positions in the interest of
the whole nROnl0- should adopt the
leading idea of the next national plat
form the control by law, national and
state, of combines, SyndicateS and cor
pora tions. The menace of the liberties
and rights of the mass of the people
from the above sources, controlling as
they do the working capital of the ma
tion, debating in their combined
strength to congress, the judiciary and
state legislatures, is tenfOld more dan
geroES to the life of the republic than
a half dozen foreign wars. Next in
Importance for the Republican party to
adopt is civil service reform. This
means taking public patronage out of
politics, making merit, character and
competence the standard of public Serv-
ice. Against this governmental policy
there will be the united opposition of
politicians, who look upon the offices TO
be filled by appointment, state and fed
eral, as the 'spoils' belonging to the vic
tors. All the large and small bosses
in the state and nation will object to
having the chief means of maintaining
themselves in power taken away. The
people of the nation outside of those
seeking office are interested in having
the public service performed by honest
and competent men. United States
senators and congressman from thisand
all other states are besieged from the
day of their election by an army of
Offfceseekers and their recommenda-
lions and their differences and QuarrelS
harass and consume all the time and
strength of senators and congressman
that they should give to the higher and
more important duties of legislation.
There never was a more corrupt idea
in politics than the SpoilS' theory. 1t
is a libel on American citizenship to
say that campaigns for political princi-
pies cannot be made without the hope
of dividing the offices as pay for cam
paign services, if the party is successful
and yet this is the one and only fiimsy
argument against civil service reform.
Another question which directly af-
fectS every citizen is taxation. The
reduction of taxes is within the reach
of the people in every state. At least
Cne-third of all property values escapes
taxation, for the lack of penalties for
fraud. Another source of direct loss
TO the people is the extravagant fee
system which has grown up in all the
courts from justices of the peace to the
supreme courts. The settlements of
estates often amount to confiscation.
Lawyers and court officers are COM
bined to protect the enormous fee Sys--
sems which amount to nothing less
than 1egalized robbery and the political
party that has the courage to attack
this monster evil will find the mass of
the people supporting it.
If the Republican party will adopt
q foreign policy, aggressive and cOur-
ageous, with such an increase in the
navy and army as will make the stere-
ptYped SneerS of played-out European
powers like Spain an impOssibility, it
viii command the respect of the peo-
pie at home and abroad. The course
of the United States towards the Cuban
patriots under Cleveland and up to this
time under President Mckinley has
been in its trucking cowardice a crime
against humanity and lasting dis
grace to the patriotism and honor of
our nation Americans robbed, inn
priSoned and shot have had little pro-
lection in Cuba since the present war
began The CubanS for century
and a half have borne a hundredfold
more of oppression and wrong from
Spain than our American patriots of
1776 ever dreamed Of While the Span
ish butchers are destroying by murder
and starvation the women and children
of Cuba, our great government within
a hundred miles is playing at the farce
of diplomacy.
There are many other important
questions of national Importance, such
as reducing the frequency of elections
increasing the length of terms of office
electfng all important officers from
president to postmaster by a direct vote
of the people, making the tenure of Of
fee in the Judiciary in all the federal
courts not longer than ten years. to en-