The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-06

taken root in Lincoln's mind He did not
believe that democracy could have toe
much freedom. or that the rights CT man
as man, should be surrendered on any
plea whatever.
These are all general principles. How
! did Lincoln believe they should be applied
to practical government? What was his
conception of the Republican party as it
ought to be? We find the answer to this
question in a speech made at Peoria in
1854 At this time the party Of which he
| was the spokesman was as yet a nav and
untricd thing. He said
| No man is good enough to govern another man
| without that other consent ! say tins Is the
! leading principle, the sheet-anchor OF American
! Repubiicanisrn. Allow all the governed
an equal voice in the government, and that, and
| that only, is self.government.
This is as plain as the hose of an ele-
plant. Nothing could be more explicit
! or more unmistakable. Now, let us sc
how the party which claims Lincoln as
| it's saint and prophet is carrying out
these principles today. Democratic work
| ingmen were threatened by Republican
| employers with the loss of their jobs il
| they refused to march in the procession
headed by these employers. Was that
| governing them with or without their
! consent? The professors of the Standard
| Oil University are informed by Mr.. Rock
! efeller and his trustees chat they are Lot
| to teach certain principles of political
economy if they wish to hold their psi
| lions. Is that conducive to the growth CT
liberty? 1a
When such professors give voice to the
theory that all the governed should have.
absolutely and unequivocelly. an equal
voice in the government, that the vote Of
a millionaire should court for no more
than that of the workingman and that any
attempt to coerce or bride the working
man into voting against his convictions is
iniquitous-when they voice their honest
7 opinion that these things are being done
today by the representatives of capital
they are hidden to be silent. How does
this agree with the principles which Lin
coin proclaimed fifty years ago, in the same
State?
Again he says. in words which have
grown familiar to our ears through fire.
9uent quotation:
Our reliance is in the love Of liberty, which
God has planted in u.s. defence is in the spirit
which prizes liberty, the heritage OF all men
in all lands, everywhere Those who deny free
dom for others deserve it not for themselves, and
under just God cannot long retain it.
And again:
am for the people of the whole nation doing
just as they please in matters which concern the
whole nation: for those Of each part doing just
they choose in all matters which concern no other
part and for each individual doing Just he
chooses in all matters which concern nobody else
This is the principle
The principle referred to is that of self
government as Lincoln understood it.
Here is a simple. plain. and explicit ex-
Dosition Of the bottom foundation of de-
mocracy. The concern of the individual is
10 consult his own interest in matters
which affect only himself; in all which at
feet others he must consult them and act
with them. How does this agree with the
development of the trust system? Let us
see.
The matter in which the capitalistic in
terest ran most directly against that of
the people was The recent war. In this,
truly. the people of the whole nation had
right to be concerned. Was the Govern
ment their spokesman or that of the mys-
.erious business interests which were
represented by few men? Is it not mat
ter of open comment that the declaration
of war with Spain was the result of great
popular uprising which swept away the
barriers which the Administration in con-
junction with these business interests"
was striving to erect. and that this out
burst OF popular feeling was denounced
bitterly by Hanna and other representatives
of the Administration as the work of dem
agosues? If Republicanism is now what
Lincoln conceived 1t TO be in his day. the
Republican Administration of 1898 should
have consulted the popular will in mat
ter which concerned the whole nation"
1t did nothing Of the kind The trust is
not representative collection of busi-
ness men: it is a group of individuals who
assume that the pursuit of their individu-
al interests will be best for the people as
whole. That was not LinCOln's doctrine
as here set forth.
Take the other end of the scale-the
workingrnan's end. AS an individual he
has. under this definition of self-govern-
ment. the right of doing as he chooses in
matters which concern nobody else There
is no matter which more vitality concerns
him, or is less the business of any enc
else. than his choice of his work and his
employer and his disposition of the wages
which he fairly earns. These are things
which affect only himself and his family.
50 long as he does not spend his money
for dynamite bombs. or work at counter
feiting or some such trade. The trust.
while it does not directly, and by law
prescribe his wages. his hours of employ
ment. and the spending of his money. so
gains control of legislatures and courts
that he cannot secure redress if his rights
are invaded. If such invasiOns of per-
sonal liberty as the company store the
blacklist and the arbitrary control of wa
ter works and gas WORKS by monopolies.
were merely affairs of business. the mat
ter would not be quite so bad; but the
problem is not merely economic. II is af-
fected by the fact that those who control
these monopolies also control party lead
ers and gain control of the Government,
which should be impartial. Instead of its
protecting every individual in his inalion-
able rights they wish it to protect what
they conceive to be their rights. which
are really the privileges which they have,
by force or fortune. wrested from the
public That is where the danger comes
in. The Republican party stands today as
the defender and apologist of these midi
viduals. and the Democratic party as their
foe and denunciator. The latter stands
for the rights of the ndivduai., the for
mer contends that the individual is only
of value when he has money. He nned not
be q millionaire to win their consi1era-