The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-08
ATTACKED IMPERIALISM.
Ex-GOv. AItgeId's speech at the Oma-
ha Jacksonian Banquet


OMAHA, Neb., jan 7. = What the
| members Of the Jacksonian club Of
this city, assert was the most success
full banquet they ever held took place
tonight in the dining room Of the Pax
ton hotel, which could barely accom-
modate those in attendance. Demo-
Gratis from all parts Of the state were
present and with them many leading
populists, including all the state Of
dcia1s Ex-Gov. Altgeld, of Chicago;
ex-Vice President Stevenson, Of Hi
nois, and Congressman Sulzer, of New
York, as the guests of honor, made
the principal addresses. Mr.. Altgeld
had as his subject The Situation"
He said in part:
This republic has been the beacon light Of
the world for more than century. 1t has
not only lifted the hopes of all men, but by
It's example 1t has turned theface ofneariy
it's example it has turned the face of nearly
reading Of the Declaration OF independence,
over go 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 OWL institutions. The very affairs of
liberty are being betrayed by the men set
to guard them. Two years ago., when we
turned the face Of our party toward the sun.
we protested against economic policies thai
robbed, against financial policies that para
lyZed and against judicial usurpation that en-
shaved Every days development since tho
time has shown not only that we were right,
but that the situation was far more serious
than 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 free
dom of the citizen Every great industrial.
commercial, mining or transportation enter
prise Is passing into the hands, first OF cor
poradons, and then by further consolidation
into the hands of trusts, which thus have an
absolute MONOPOLY monopoly which call,
arbitrarily, fix prices, fix wages and regulate
output monopoly which has no soul and
whose chief purpose is to plumber the public.
The monopolist and the Spectator prosper,
but the masses withsr. Men of moderate for
tunes and of fair incomes, who were the
bulwark Of the republic. are slowly but sure
Iy being wiped out. We are being reduced
to two classes; in the first stage these will
be known as the very rich and the moderately
poor, and in the second stage as the masters
aristoeracy, and are now fastening a yoke on
posterity. A standing army is to be enthron-
ed and bayonet argument is to govern.
Republican institutions cannot I've amid
these conditions. Wealth has never been the
friend of liberty. Concurrently with the
progress OF these changes we hear the snari-
ing voices of men who deride the doctrines
of Jefferson and Lincoln that made our coun-
try great and mighty. Already we see mag
azine articles urging the establishment by
law of a permanent aisrtocracy In our system
hear demand for Hamltonism. Hamilton
believed in monarchy and aristocracy bottom
ed on corruption.
Had Harniitnnism prevailed at that time
the whole history of the republic would have
been different; the brains the industry, the
skill and the enterprise of the earth would
not have hocked to our shores. The genius
CT man being c0wed. would have withered
here it had in Europe, and the American
republic would today be simply an oligarcny,
stretching in small settlements from the
Mississippi to the Atlantic. Hamilton was
a member Of the constitutional convention,
and succeeded in establishing that aristo-
cratic branch of government known
the federal Judiciary unrepublican and I'M
democratic; it is not chosen by the people
and Is not accountable to Them In fact,
for practical purposes is not accountable to
any one. Jefferssr opposed this manner of
creating Judiciary with all his might, and
he pointed out that there would ultimately
be found the tomb OF American liberty. How
prophetic was that vision? During Its whole
career this branch x the government has