The times., 1897-04-13

| said the speaker. -diSputing these principles
he is not in harmony with the Government
under which he lives tApplause.l He
I would, however, caution the students not
! TO confound equality before the law with
equality OF possessions, a mistake often
| made. Jackson did not stand for common
possessions, common purse, but he did
maintain the duty OF the Government to
| protect the right OF the small, well as
the great holder, with impartiality and
equal force. tApplause.) Equality before
| the law involves the principle that no citi-
zen has q natural right TO inJure another
and this i S also d principle of good gov
| emment.
| The first OF the duties OF good govern
ment, lie said, was that 1t should act un-
der the law. and in making laws, there
fore, it is essential TO see that they DO not
take ftom one and give to another. Mr..
Bryan applied this principle to the tax
ing ROVER, holding that it was the duty
OF the government TO see that each citizen
paid taxes in proportion To the benefits
he received from the government and its
laws. No one, he said, would hold, for in
stance, that per capita tax was good
principle.
MIR. Bryan gave some illustrations of the
evils Of unequal taxation.
'lf, however, the man, who has the
advantage of laws that bear unequally, is
also instrumental in making that law
SO as TO serve himself and burden someone
else, he is simply guilty of taking the
property of smother; and / cannot see any
difference between taking this advantage
on the highway, where there is some
riSl< i'm he ia
polite form of unjust legislation CAP
lause) Larceny by law is as dangerous
as larceny ON the highway, and this is only
another way of saying that where there
is inequality there is injustice"
After similar illustrations, Mr.. Bryan
said: Il simply suggest the applications
of these general principles of which 1
spoke in the beginning, that governments
should avoid acts OF affirmative injustice
and you can apply them yourselves to any
question which arises in the consideration
of the principles of government.
''lf L should attempt TO apply them we
might get upon what would be called
partisan ground But l want to say that
the principles 1 have referred to are of
universal application, and however you
and l may differ as to particular ques-
tions, you and i, and all good citizens Will
agree that every question which comes be-
fore every legislative body ought To be
measured by the rule laid down, and that
a law which violates it is bad law no
matter by whom proposed or under what
circumstances. (Applausel Government,
he said, must not only not be guilty of
affirmative injustice, but it must prevent
injustice as between individuals
sir. Bryan ON this latter point took up the
subject of corporations and their tire
mendouS power against individuals, when
il was uniustly used against them, he
holding the citizen TO be just as entitled
TO protection as against acts punishable by
the criminal law When a corporation
attempts to be greater than the government
which created it, it has passed the danger
line and becomes a positive menace TO the
welfare of the country lApplauseJ Mr..
Bryan pointed out that the danger from the
corporation was enhanced by its ire
sponsibilty and indifference 10 future pun
ishment- Can it be possible, he inquired,
that q fictitious person can become so
great as TO be able TO infringe on the rights
OF others? L think it possible, and l sug
gest it for your consideration
He then touched upon the trusts and
after illustrating their formation, said:
II affirm that the government which is
not great enough to protect honest citizens
from the trust is unworthy to be called
a free government (ApplaHse.l Mr
Bryan argued that in j government like
ours there should be no necessary evils
and, while it might be difficult of achieve
ment, the people would eventually find a
y,st 4 A 10
to the schemes of violators OF law, such
as the trusts, lodging in one instance be-
hind State laws, and then behind the Su-
premc Court, and other tricks of the laws
delay. In the end, however, the COM
bined intelligence of seventy millions of
people viii be sufficient to meet and over
come every obstacle that opposes itself
TO the progress OF this, the greatest nation
Of the world" tApplause)
He criticiseda blind devotion to the Con-
stitution in particulars in which it was
held to be bad. II believe that devotion TO
your Constitution can be better shown
by making il good where it is had than by
trying TO keep 1T bad; that patriotism
can be better shown by correcting the de-
fects of government than by advocating
and perpetuatiDg them; that the citizen
is better citizen who seeks TO make his
government good in every point than he
who tries to have bad laws enacted or to
preserve defects that should be removed.
Percles, in his eulogy of those who fell
at SalaIuis, after recounting the great
ness and glory of Greece, said: 1T was
Tor such country, then, that these men,
resolving not TO have it taken from them,
died fighting; and we, their survivors,
may well be willing TO suffer in its be-
halr.''' -
ITO my mind there is q great deal of
for the present day in that
passage. It points out the way of the
patriot: for every citizen should make it
his highest ambition to so perfect his Gov |
ernment in its Details in its laws, that he |
should be so devoted to it that he should |
be Willing to give his life for it whenever |
necessity requires" (Applause)
Mr.. Bryan told a story from which he |
that government was the putting |
of rings in the noses of hogs, without in
tending, he said, to be offensive To any |
puts on itself, he said, was the |
hope of the generations.
He concluded as follows: II want to |
IL upon you bHdo SoOu
is the richest inheritance a parent can
leave child; for, If by the operation OF
bad laws, if by the opportunities of bad |
we can lay up for ourselves
wealth to give to those who are to follow
is, we are not sure posterity can keep it.
But, if we give to posterity good govern
nent, just government, equal laws, laws
which will protect each citizen in the en-
ioymept of life, liberty and the pursuit OF
happiness, we shall have left an inheri-
hot h.N- |