Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-01-09

stitutions Cannot Exist-Aim of the FL
nanciai Spectators of Europe-The Gold
Standard and I6 to THE Aristocracy
Ex-Governor Alleged Of Illinois
speaking at the Jackson club banquet
at Omaha. said in part:
This republic has been the beacon
light OF the world for more than a CEN
fury. 1t has not only lifted the hopes
or all men. but by its example ii has
turned the face of nearly all nations
toward liberty. Since the first reading
OF the Declaration Of Independence over
$50 constitutions that were republican
In form have been adopted. Most OF
them persisted. but they will arise
again. Now the foundations are being
pulled from under our own institutions.
The very affairs Of liberty are being
betrayed by the men set to guard them.
Two yeats ago. when we turned the
face of our party toward the sun. we
protested against the economic policies
that robbed. 5against financial policies
that raralyzed, ard against judicial
Iusurpation that ensIaved. Every days
development since that time has shown
not only that we were right, but that
the situation was far more serious than
we supposed.
| Look about you. Nearly all the
| wealth of this land is passing into a
| few hands and not one of these hands
| favorable to the freedom of the citizen.
| Every great industrial, commercial.
| mining or transportation enterprise is
passing into the hands first by corpora
| tions. and then by further consolidation
| into the hands of trusts which thus
| have an absolute monopoly-a monop-
oily which can. arbitrarily. fix prices. fix
wages and regulate output-a monop-
oily which has no soul and whose chief
purpose is to plumber the public. The
monopolist and the Spectator prosper.
but the masses wither. Men of moder-
ate fortunes and of fair incomes. who
were the bulwark of the republic, are
slowly but surely being wiped out We
are being reduced to two classes: in the
first stage these will be known as the
very rich and The slaves. We have es-
tablished a monied aristocracy and are
now fastening the yoke on posterity
A standing army is TO be enthroned
and bayonet argument is to govern.
Demand for HamiItonism.
Republican institutions cannot live
amid these conditions. Wealth has new
yer been the friend of liberty. Concur
rently with the progress of these
changes we hear the snarling voices of
men who deride the doctrines of JEFF |
ferson and Lincoln, that made our |
see magazine articles urging the estab- |
lishment by law of a permanent aris- !
tocracy in our system of government. |
and from high quarters we hear a de- |
mand for HamiltOnism. Hamilton be- /
lieved in monoarchy and aristocracy,
bottomed on corruption.
Had Hamiltonism prevailed at that |
time the whole history of the republic |
would have been different; the brains.
ird eli
prise of the earth would not have
focked to our shores. The genius of
man being cowed would have withereG |
here as it had in Europe, and the Amer
lean republic would today be simply an
oligarchy, stretching in small settle
ments from the Mississippi to the At
lantic. Hamilton was member of the
convention, and succeed
ed in establishing that aristocratic
branch of the government known as the
federal judiciary, unrepublican and I'M
democratic; 1T is not chosen by the peo-
pie and is not accountable to them. In |
fact, for practical purposes is not &C
to any one. jefferson op-
posed this manner of creating a judic-
larry with all his might, and he pointed
out that here would ultimately be
found the tomb of American liberty.
How prophetic was that vision? Dur
the government has never been on the
side of the weak, but always on the side
of power.
Verify. the spirit of Hamilton fits
these times. but what shall we say of a
judiciary that openly rejoices over the
fact that an era of corruption has en-
veloped the land. that the betrayal of
the people has become a science. and
that the robbing of the people has be-
come fine art? And now we are to
widen the sphere of this class of states
men by giving them a chance to rob
the Filipinos. Heaven pity those poor
people. The Spaniard took what was
IN sight. but the Hamiltonite. with his
bond jobbery. enters the womb of the |
future and plasters his mortgage on
remote generations.
Where Aristocracy Exists.
I'VE wish to prevent the enslavement
IF our people and the establishment of
an aristocracy. We see that no aris- |
.ocracy, either of birth or wealth, can |
De established or maintained where the
great masses are prosperous and indie |
pendent. 1t can exist only amid cheap !
cheap labor and cheap men.
4 cowed and a poor people are the soil |
n which Il grows. When they gave US
financial system which paralyzed our