Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1900-09-14
er cent. collected decreasing as the in-

per cent. collected decreasing as the IN
come increases.
eff this nation adheres to the doctrine
that governments derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed, and the
people have an easy and ready means OF
correcting all abuses, the government will
not need to be supported by large perma-
nent standing army, for every citizen will
be ready to defend such a government from
attack The only domestic use for a large
standing army is to suppress by force
that discomfort which should be cured by
legislation
men requires approximately one-hah as
much money is annually expended for
education in the United States. How much
cheaper 1t is to uplift people by the gentle
and peaceful process of intellectual de-
velopment than to blow them up with
powder and dynamite!
imperialism involves a departure from
principles which were universally accepted
in this country until within two years. To
know that all men are created equal one
needs not the wisdom of a sage or the
learning of the schools. 1t was declared to
be self-evident truth; it was evident to
those who pledged their lives to the main
tenance of the declaration of independence,
and it is evident still to those who are not
blinded by the glamour of wealth and the
glftterfng promises OF a colonial system
If all men are created equal and endowed
with inalienable rights, follows as a
logical and necessary sequence that gov
ernments were instituted for the welfare
of all and derive their just powers from
the consent of the governed. On the pres
ervatiOn of this doctrine our hopes depend;
if it is abandoned there is no foundation
upon which a government like ours can
be constructed
do not allow yourselves to be deceived
by those who question the capacity of this
people or that people for government.
Macaulay, in his essay on John Milton
points out the folly of attempting to pre-
pare people for self-government by deny
ing them the right to participate In their
own government. He said:
Many politicians of our time are in the
habit of laying it down as a self-evident
proposition that no people ought to be Tree
until they are fit to use their freedom me
maxim is worthy of the fool in the old
story who resolved not to go into the water
till he had learned to swim. If men are to
wait for liberty till they become wise and
good in slavery, they may indeed wait for-
ever
when 1 say that those who distrust the
capacity of the people for self-govern-
ment tend directly toward monarchy, am
only repeating what Lincoln deliberately
declared in his first annual message he
said:
Monarchy itself is sometimes limited
at as a possible refuge from the power OF
the people In my present position couio
scarcely be justified were to omit raising
a warning voice against this approach OF
returning despotism. 1t is not needed nor
fitting here that a general argument should
be made in favor of popular institutions:
but there is point, with Its cOnnec-
lions not so hackneyed as most others, to
which I ask brief attention. 1t is the effort
to place capital on an equal footing with,
if not above, labor. in the structure of gov
eminent No men living are more
worthy to be trusted than those who toll
up from poverty; none less inclined to take
or touch aught which they have not hon.
estly earned. Let them beware of surren-
,olif Tool NOV w
possess and which. if surrendered, Will
surely be used to close the door OF ad-
vancement against such as they, and to
fix now disabilities and burdens upon them
till all of liberty shall be lost
1.-THE warning is even more needed now
than it was 40 years ago. The Army and
Navy Journal is already justlfy1ng the
colonial idea, and declaring that fate has
decreed for us a destiny in which an i'm
perial executive, free from the restraints
of a written constitution, will govern sub
jects according to his own pleasure. the
United States Investor, published at Bos-
ton, in it's issue of July %, says:
Only a blind person can fail to see that
remarkable transformations of one kind
or another are in store for the race; hence
the folly of asserting that the policy of this
country, which is destined to play such a
leading part in human affairs of the future,
shall be governed for the most part by
political maxims uttered more than loo
wears ago. The greatest evil which now
by certain faction for settlement OF our
problems of state by just such method
as have been deprecating. Consider
ably more than a century ago a certain
notable declaration was made in this cOun-
try to the effect that all men ought to be
free and independent This is merely a
generalization of the French school OF
Voltaire and the encyclopedias. 1t is a
dictum absolutely lacking foundation IN
history and incapable of sylfogistic justif-
cation. 1t was, however, a handy phrase
for US to employ when asserting our right
to break away from the mother country;
it suited the exigencies OF our situation
in 1776 admirably, though in itself bNt bit
of sublfmated demagOgiSm. The declara-
ton was serviceable means to the end
that was at that time desired. To bring
forward this declaration in this year, 1900,
in connection with our treatment of the
F'ilipinos and the CubanS is gross an
absurdity as ever was practiced- To do
so is to offer an insult to the intelligence
of the people who first subscribed to the
declaration in question.
but why quote from newspapers to
what may be done hereafter in the pres
ence of law already enacted which makes
subjects out of Porto Ricans, withdraws
from them the guarantees OF the conSt1tu-
ton and asserts the power of the pres
ident and congress to govern them without
their consent and tax them without rep
resentation-a power as unlimited and
tyranntcal as was ever asserted or eXer-
cised by any ruler in all the history of the
human race. This doctrine has not yet
been approved by the people; it furnishes
the supreme question of the present cam
paign. In the presence of these perils the
laboring man has a responsibility COM
mensurate with his opportunity. Without
a large percentage of the labOring vote
no party can win an election in the United
States. The men who work for wages can
by throwing their votes on the one side
or the other determine the policy of this
country. They need not march in parades;
they need not adorn themselves with the
insignia of any party, but on election day
their silent ballots can shape the destiny