The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-06-24
DIRECT LEGISLATION.
tzCompiled by 81. WI. Lawrence.l

compiled by II. w. Lawrence)
In the Declaration of Independence oc-
ours this statement: I'VE hold these
truths to be self-evident; that al men
are created equal and endowed with GER
tain inalienable rights; that among these
are the rights to life. liberty and pursuit
OF happiness, That TO secure these rights
governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just powers from the con-
sent OF the governed"
1t Is evident the authors Of that deciara-
ton considered the rights of life OF lib
Srty and pursuit of happiness the most
important of all mans possessions, and
that governments are established for the
sacred purpose of securing and maintain
ing these rights. To protect the people
in the enjoyment of their natural rights
the founders of our government concluded
that a purely representative government
would best secure the inslienable rights Of
men. They reasoned that the representa-
tiYes of a people would be true servants to
the masters who delegated them powers
and piled them with honors.
At the organization OF our government
and up to the time of the civil war our
representative system was, generally
speaking, a government of and for the
people. During that period the rights of
man were considered OF more importance
by loyal citizens than the rights of stocks,
bonds and sdlaried Office. During the
war, while honest men We're busily en-
gagged, directly or indirectly, In preserving
the Union, there were those who claimed
the protection guaranteed TO loyalty, who
were enriching themselves by forcing
tribute from crippled nation. They
sucked the life blood of the government
through army contracts, corrupted con-
gress to depreeiate by special legislation
the government money, and then convert
the currency at par into interest non-taX-
able bonds. whereby the wealth and liber-
ties of the people could be controlled. by
these means corporations became en-
throned, and from that day to the present
the people have struggled to free them
selves from the oppression of mOnopOlles,
but at each movement have sunk deeper
into political and financial mire, while
corporate influence sits serene in Iegisla-
tive halls OF state and nation!
II we may be allowed TO judge by pres
ent conditions it is safe TO say that as a
nation we still hold the form of legis-
lation so highly priced by the fathers, but
the substance has escaped. The shell Is
ours, but the kernel falls to those who
often earn it not. We take pride in say
ing: Ours is a government of and Tor
the people" but the enjoyment certainly
ends with the saying, for the most casual
observation reveals the cruel fact that
| ours is a government for the corpora
tOnS and by the milliOnaireS-' RepreSefl-
tative government is a failure as a means
of securing that enjoyment of the in
al1enabl6 rights so earnestly sought 70 ne
provided by those who drafted our form
of government.
It is stated on what appears to be good
authority, that the wealth of this nation
was so generally distributed in 1860, that 81
per cent of the people owned 80 per cent
of the entire wealth. The census OF le5U
shows that 1000 families have more
wealth than 100000 families belonging
to the wage earning classes, and with the
present rate of increase in accumulation,
it is estimated that the census OF 1900 VIII
show that the very rich, ana rlcil, anu
upper-niddle classes, comprising III per
per cent of the population, will own W
per cent of the total wealth, and that the
lOwer-middle and poor classes, comprising
90 per cent of the population, will only own
10 per cent of the wealth OF the nation.
National party platforms favor tree
homes for the people, protection 10 LABOR
and denounce oppressive trusts, While al
the same time unjust economic laws de-
prive thousands of families yearly OF the
ownership Of their homes. Tne average
wages of labor will not purchase one-tnlfd
of the wealth it produces, and the rather
of all trusts is fastened upon the people
by giving the control of the nation S
money into the hands of a favored Few.
These are some of the conditions pro-
duced by a partisan representative gov
eminent, and the question may We'll De
asked, can this continue and the repuDhc
live?
when the wealth and lands of a
nation are concentrated IN the
hands of a few, therefore an eco
nomic revolution is right at hand and II
is for the people to decide whether it shall
be by force and bloOdshed, or by peace
/ able means. as in the case of Switzerland
and New Zealand, where the people have
by direct legislation forced the passage OF
laws that have given relief and protection
to the struggling masses, and the change
has been so equitable to all that none
wish a return to old monopolistic con-
ditiOns.
The present cry of prosperity and plenty
by our dominant political party Will not
avert the coming issue. The storm sigma Is
are already flying, telling in no uncertain
signs the near approach of the impend-
ing crisis.