The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-05-04

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stitutional changes. The vital question
which this country is called upon to
determine, and towards the determine
ton Of which we are, intelligently it
may be, or blindly it may be, cropping
! our way is "Where shall the actual
governing power reside" ''Shal it be
in men or money!" 1t is not a new
question but in a Republic it is the inc
vitable question whose determination
| settles all others. What matters it if
the Constitution says that all political
DO wer residcs in or is derived from the
| people if it has ceased to be true in
fact9 The Roman legions bore to the
latest days of the empire upon their
standards the words The Senate and
the Roman People" centuries after
Augustus and Tlberius and Nero had
stamped out the last veetiges of the
popular will. There were still Tribunes
of the People, and Consuls and a Sen
ate and the forms of a Republic in Off
cial documents and proceedings long
centuries after the real power had
passed from the curia and the comitia
to the barracks Of the Pcetorian
| Guards, and when there was no will in
| Rome save that of their master.
! YEARS AFTER THE VICTOR OF MARENGO
had been crowned Emperor and the
sword of Austerlitz had become the
supreme power in France, the French
coins and official documents still bore
the superscriptions of the Republic.
The nature of a government is not de.
termined By its forms and titles. These
usually remain unchanged long after
the governing power has become vested
! elsewhere. What boots it il on parch
ment we shall continue to read "All
political power ia vested in and derived
from the people; all government of
right originates from the people, is
founded upon their will only and is in
stituted solely for the good of the
whole. " if it is not a living potential,
actual truth9
IF, AS a MATTER OF FACT,
| great corporations through their
agents, whether lobbyists or members
of the Legislature itself, can control a
majority of that body, so that the
| choice of the corporations, and not the
| genuine choice of the people, ia sent to
the Federal Hall of ambassadors to sit
as a Senator in Congress, then the
parchment declaration is a Haunting
lie. If gigantic combinations of wealth
can elect or control MAJ Orities in State
legislatures or in Congress so as to
shape legislation, if they can be potent
in the nomination and election of FED
eral or State officials, then the real
governing power vests in money, not
in men, and your boasted republic is
but a nee b%eauteous form from which
the spirit has already departed
This is the question of the hour,
which should be pondered and under,
stood with a full grasp Of it's meaning
and all the consequences which must
flow from the displacement of the
centre Of gravity in government. If
! this displacement has already measur-
ably taken place, or if there is grave
danger of it, the struggle to restore it
will bring on the crisis which must de
termine the real nature of our govern (
ment, For mark you we'll this fact:
! that if multi millionaires r vast com
binations Of capital, have succeeded,
or shall succeed, to the real control of
legislation, they have only won it's pos
session because it can be immensely
profitable to them; and if profitable,
they cannot afford to run the risk,
from time to time, Of losing so profit
able a domination by popular agita-
ton. They will seek, if they have not
already done so, to strengthen them
selves by securing
THE MAJORITY Of H FEDERAL SENATE,
and an Influence in the Executive
councils, and even more important
than that, the majority Of appoint
ments to the Federal bench, whose life
tenure and uncontrolled power Of con
STRUNG constitutions and statutes. will
be o. invaluable aid. In Rome, where
the augurs, by reading signs IN the sky
or inspecting the entrRils of fowls,
could adjourn assemblies OF the people
by decreeing the day to be unlucky,
the augurs we're invariably selected by
those in power the personnel OF the
augurs being Indispensable for their
purposes Nor, a. time goes by, will
the matter stop even with the selection
OF judicial augurs. Agitation, public
agitation, af4cCs values-that horriblJ
bette nOire OF capitalism. Profound