Free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1888-1908, 1900-09-15

ISldtlOn Wherever practicable Tor the
same reason that he favors the election
or senators by popular vote. Direct
legislation brings the government
nearer to the voter. There is more
virtue in the people than ever finds ex-
preston through their representatives
To hold that a representative can acI
for the people better than they can
act for themselves, is to assert that he
is as much interested in the people as
they are in themselves, and that his
wisdom is greater than the combined
wisdom Of a majority of the people.
Neither proposition is sound. Most, if
not all, OF the evils complained Of in
government are traceable to the fact
that the representative OF the people
has personal interests at variance with
the interests of his constituency. Cor
| ruption in municipal, state and federal
governments is due to the misrepre-
sentation Of the people by public ser
wants, who use their positions for pri-
vate advantage. The people should
have an opportunity to vote on public
questions when those questions can be
| submitted without too great inconven-
fence or expense.
But the labOring man is evel more
interested in the proposition to estab-
fish a labor bureau with a cabinet
| officer at its head. Such a bureau
would keep the executive in constant
touch with the wage-earners of the
| country, and open the way to the red
ress of their present and future griev-
| ances- If labor is given place in the
! presidents official household, the man
| selected will necessarily be worthy
| and trusted representative Of the peo-
pie for whom he speaks, and his pres
ence at cabinet meetings will give to
| those who toll for their daily bread as
surance that their interests will be
| properly guarded.
Mr.. Gompers, the chief executive of
| the federation Of labor, has, in his cor
| respondence with the secretary of the
treasury, so ably presented the labor
| ing mems reasons for opposing gold
standard and national bank currency
| that it is not necessary to discuss those
| questions at this time.
| The laboring man has abundant rea-
| son to fear the trusts. Mr.. Charles r.
| Flint, in a speech delivered in Boston
| more than year ago in defense Of the
| trusts, frankly asserts that one of the
| advantages of these combinations is
that 'in case of local strikes or fires
the work goes on elsewhere, thus pre-
| venting serious loss" Is it possible
| that any wage-eaTner can fail to see
how completely the trust places en-
ploye at the mercy of the employer?
The resolutions adopted by various
| labor organizations in condemnation
Of militarism and imperialism Justify
me in making a brief reference to those
| questions. No class contributes more
than the labor class in proportion to
| its members to the rank and file of
the army; no class contributes more in
| proportion to its numbers to the ex-
| pense of the army, and no class is
more menaced by the existence of a
| large army. Most of the countries in
| Europe which maintain large military
establishments collect an income tax
which adjusts the burden Of the gov
| eminent to the income of the citizen
| Here our federal taxes are largely COL
lected upon consumption, and while
they are income taxes in the sense that
they must be paid out of the incomes
of the people, yet the exactions are not
proportionate to the incomes. The
taxes upon consumption bear heaviest
upon the poor and lightest upon the
rich and are, in fact, graded income
taxes, the per cent collected decreasing
az the income increases.
If this nation adheres to the doctrine
that governments derive their just
powers from the consent CT the gov
erned, and the people have an easy
and ready means of correcting all
abuses, the government VIII not need
to be supported by large permanent
army for every citizen will be ready
to defend such a government from at
tack. The only domestic use for a
large standing army is to suppress by
force that discomfort which should be
cured by legislation.
To support a permanent army of
100000 men requires approximately
! one-haf as much money as is annually
| expended for education in the United
States. Ho wmuch cheaper it is to
uplift people by the gentle and peace
full process OF intellectual development
than to blow them up with powder
| and dynamite!
Imperialism involves a departure
from principles which were universal
Iy accepted in this country until with
in 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 a
self-evident truth: it was evident to
those who pledged their lives to the
| maintenance of the Declaration of In
dependence, and it is evident still to
those who are not blinded by the CLAM
our of wealth Snd the glitteFing prom
ises of a colonial system. If all men
are created equal and endowed with
inalienable rights, it follows as a logi-
cal and necessary sequence that gov
| ernments were instituted for the well
fare of all and derive their just pow
ers from the consent of the governed.
On the preservation of this doctrine
our hopes depend; if it is abandoned
there is no foundation upon which q
government like ours can be con-
structed.
Do not allow yourselves to be de-
ceived by those who question the ca
pacity of this people or that people
for elf-government. Macauley. in his
essay on John Milton, points out the
folly of attempting to prepare people
for seIf-government by denying 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
seIf-evident proposition that no people
ought to be free urtil they are fit &c
use their freedom. The 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 forever"
When l say that those who distrust
the capacity of the people for self-gov-
eminent tend directly toward mon