Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-07-27

Is God or nature responsible for a
paper money trust that makes the
people at large the victim. of private
| individuals intrusted with the control
OF the volume of currency?
Is God or nature responsible for
private monopolies which corner the
markets, extort from the people and
disburse the proceeds among the hold.
ers of watered stock?
Is God or natnro to blame for the
substitution of force for reason and
might for right in government?
Is God or nature responsible for the
nations throwing upon the many the
burden and menace of militarism and
comforting upon the few the benefits OF
exploitation?
LARCENY BY LAW.
The United States Supreme Court
has coined the phrase, Larceny by
Law" and, compared with ordinary
stealing, this form of theft may be
called grand larceny; and yet, whole.
sale wrong-doing is never taken into
account by those who assume that all
who are poor deserve their poverty,
and that all who are rich earn their
riches. If one employs another to
commit robbery he is as guilty as If he
commits the act himself; does it
change the moral character of the act
because the injury is done indirectly
instead of directly? Does it change
the moral character of the act be.
cause the injury is done through
legislation which he has secured, or,
in the absence of some righteous la W,
the passage of which he has prevented?
The accumulation OF wealth by
honest means is to be encouraged, but
the line must be drawn between honest
wealth-the reward OF brain service or
muscle service rendered-and preda.
tory wealth which defies the law OF
turns government itself into q ma
chine for the plunder of the public.
The indolent cannot expect plenty
under any just form of government
neither can the vicious expect happi.
ness, but under bad laws those who
work the hardest may enjoy the least
and those who labor least may have
the most.
But the remedy:
How will you ever straighten up this shape.
Touch 1t again with Immortality
Give justice to every creature-jus'
tice in the methods of government
justice in the distribution of the bur.
dens OF government, justice in the
making of the laws, justice in the exc
cution Of the laws; justice first and
charity afterwards.
Justice will not eliminate distress
entirely, but it will greatly reduce the
number of those who come within the
description of the poet. There viii
still be some poor, some destitute
some desperate. Generations of vict
will transmit tendencies toward vict
which must be reformed.
Some will be victims of unavoidable
misfortunes-they will need the aid o.
the moro fortunate. The orphan viii
need foster parent, the widow viii
need friend, the aged without rela
tives will need a benefactor; the veal
must be encouraged by the strong
those who fall must be lifted up.
LOVE VERSUS GREED.
Love is the antithesis of greed; il
will inspire both justice and mercy
Love, and love alone, can regulate
the relations between man and mar
and plant hope in the breast oI
every child born into the world.
When every man made wrong il
remedied there will still be suffering
enough to enable every person t.
prove his love toward God by mani
testing his compassion toward his fel
lows.
But the poet presents also warn
ing:
| How will the future reckon with this man!
How answer his brute question in that hour
When whirlwinds Of rebellion shake the world!
| How will 1t be with Kingdoms and with Kings
With those who shaped him to the thing he is
When this dumb terror shall reply to God
After the silence Of centuries!
In monarchies, revolution is tht
only weapon OF the oppressed. Under
our form of government wrongs arr
righted by the ballot. but even herr
the longer a necessary reform is de
layed, the more disturbance its &C
complishment causes.
Victor Hugo has described the mol
as :" the human race in misery" W.
cannot afford to make people miser
able. Life is secure and propert.
rights are respected in proportion a
the people find life worth living.
Happy will be the lot of all whel
each member of society makes to SO
ciety just and adequate return TO
that which he receives from society
Happy will be the lot of all when eacl
member OF society recognizes the in
dissoluble tie that binds together tn
highest and the lowest, the stronges
and the weakest, the richest and tn
poorest-when each member of societ.
aids according to his ability to Civ
back to the poets subject:
the upward looking and the light;
Rebuild in 1t the music and the dream;
Make right the immemorial infamies,
y Perndious wrongs, immedicable woes.